Western Union, Unicef and Patrick Vieira convert tweets into education for kids in Uefa Europa League social media initiative
Western Union has enlisted Arsenal midfield legend Patrick Viera to help it turn football fans’ passion into education for vulnerable children across the world.
The payment service, which is a global partner of the Uefa Europa League, has teamed up with Unicef to launch the ‘Show Your PASSion campaign’, a scheme which converts tweet and retweets of a designated club hashtag into better education for vulnerable children across the world.
For example, Everton fans will contribute to the scheme using #COYB and Fiorentina will contribute using #ForzaViola during the knock-out stages of this year’s UEFA Europa League.
Vieira, who was a staple of the French national side, has pitched into the initiative, which has supported education in his country of birth, Senegal. He said: “Not every fan can be at the ground, but Show Your PASSion means every fan can make a difference through making their voice heard on Twitter.
“I’ve seen first-hand the difference the PASS campaign and Unicef are making in the lives of world’s youth and I encourage fans to Show Your PASSion and support the campaign.”
Marc Audrit, head of brand at Western Union, said: “To reach our final goal of one million passes – just like the teams that make it through the knock-out stages – the support of the fans will be get us over the line.”
The initiative aims to deliver one million education ‘passes’ to vulnerable children by the end of this year’s UEFA Europa League final.
Funding has already been delivered on the ground to Unicef in Brazil, Jamaica, Senegal, Nigeria, China, Morocco and Turkey, with Western Union education programs in Colombia, Mexico and Romania set to begin in 2015.