Avoidable blindness tackled through charity football

Forty-eight teams comprising of Standard Chartered Bank staff, clients and partners pit their football skills against each other on Saturday at the Bank’s five-a-side football fiesta at FICO Sports Hub. The event raised a total of SGD150,000 for the “Seeing is Believing” (SiB) programme as part of the Bank’s global initiative to tackle avoidable blindness across its markets.

Around a month ago, Standard Chartered began rallying football enthusiasts from across the Bank, its client and partner base to form teams of five players for this charity event. Staff, clients and partners, ranging from amateurs to regular players responded positively and 48 teams and supporters who made up a 400-strong crowd joined in a morning of fun and for a good cause. A total of around SGD150,000 was raised via the teams’ participation fees, and the Bank’s dollar-for-dollar match of these contributions.

After a few serious knockout rounds, Standard Chartered’s partner, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), emerged as the winner of the game. Two goals in the space of 10 minutes was the key to the final triumph. Team captain, Tang Jin Rong commented on their win:

Standard Chartered Bank and PwC are both committed to reaching out to the community, and we saw the Standard Chartered Charity Football Fiesta as a great way to raise funds for those in need, at the same time, enjoy our love for the game, and of course, to win for an extremely good cause. We look forward to future collaborations with Standard Chartered Bank to do our part for the community.

Ngo Min Ying (Ms), Ambassador for the SiB programme in Singapore, and also the General Manager of Premium Banking, Standard Chartered Bank, Singapore and Malaysia, said:

Our colleagues in Singapore have always been very passionate about volunteering for the community. Between January and August this year, more than 1,200 days of volunteer work have already been completed by our staff in Singapore. This willingness to do good for the community stems from the culture of the Bank. We believe we have a role as an international bank, to use our skills and experience to help address some of the issues which adversely impact social development.

The football fiesta is our key fund raising event this year for the SiB programme. We always involve our staff, partners and clients to create a positive impact to the community. The funds raised will help to combat avoidable blindness by the sponsorship of cataract operations, building of vision centres and training facilities, and training of eye care doctors.

The Bank’s fund raising programme for SiB first started in 2003 as a staff-led initiative to raise money for 28,000 cataract operations. It has grown into a US$37 million global funding initiative by the Bank, reaching out to over 30 million people worldwide. The Bank matches all funds raised for the programme.