Manchester United to raise money for UNICEF during 2005 Asia Tour
Football fans will have the opportunity to win a return trip to England to see Manchester United play at home this coming season, by taking part in a simple texting competition. By texting "CFMU" to 2858229 (China Mobile users) or 9858229 (Unicom users) and giving their score prediction for the match (cost just 1.5RMB), fans can enter the competition and support UNICEF's work at the same time. Other prizes include a shirt signed by the whole first team, a Beijing Hyundai shirt, a Pele autographed ball and shirts individually signed by stars Ryan Giggs and Quinton Fortune. United for UNICEF's share of the funds raised at the Manchester United v Beijing Hyundai match on July 26 will go towards an anti-trafficking project in Sichuan Province. The trafficking of women and children is a major and growing problem worldwide. The largest number of children and women trafficked are in or from Asia. In China alone, official statistics estimate that every year more than 10,000 women and children are trafficked in the country. Manchester United are supporting a programme in Sichuan province which aims to enhance the prevention, rescue and rehabilitation of child and women victims of trafficking. Developed by UNICEF, in collaboration with government counterparts the project will assist the fight against trafficking in China from policy to grass roots level.
Manchester United has had a longstanding partnership with UNICEF and has raised over GBP1.5million (over RMB 21 million) since the establishment of the partnership in 1999. As a result, the club has directly impacted the lives of over 1.5 million children globally. United for UNICEF has contributed to UNICEF's work with children affected by emergencies like the Tsunami and those living in poverty, often with no access to education and at risk from exploitation. Manager Sir Alex Ferguson, Assistant Manager Carlos Queiroz and players including Ryan Giggs, Quinton Fortune, Wes Brown and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer have visited UNICEF projects around the world and met children directly benefiting from the club's support. Many other players have recorded Public Service Announcements about key UNICEF messages which have reached countless millions of children across the globe. Organized by China ClubFootball, a grassroots football joint-venture in Beijing, and the British Chamber of Commerce in China in conjunction with United for UNICEF, the competition is the second phase of the current MasterCard Football in the Community Campaign. The campaign kicked off in May with the MasterCard Beijing Community Cup, a 48-team 5-a-side football event held at the Worker's Stadium Beijing (the venue for the Beijing Hyundai v Manchester United match), which was held to raise funds for United for UNICEF and also for local Beijing charity Hui Ling. United for UNICEF fundraising activities being carried out in Hong Kong, Beijing and Tokyo during the Manchester United Asia Tour 2005 are being supported by Malaysia Airlines as an extention of the airline's ongoing commitment to positively impacting the lives of the world's most vulnerable, especially children. Malaysia Airlines is donating the flight tickets as part of the Old Trafford Experience Grand Prize. For more information about the partnership, click here (link to http://www.manunited.com.cn/) For further information about the competition click here (link to http://www.wanguoqunxing.com/ (CHINESE) http://www.clubfootball.com.cn/ (ENGLISH) Flights kindly donated by Malaysia Airlines (link to http://www.malaysiaairlines.com/), proud to be the Official Airline of the Manchester United Asia Tour 2005.
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