ESPN India's 'Safe Spaces' initiative celebrated at the National CSR Leadership Awards

ESPN India has received critical acclaim at this year's National CSR Leadership Awards, winning the Best Community Development Award, Best Newcomer to CSR Award, and Best Education Improvement Award for their 'Safe Spaces' project that was launched in Bandepalya, Bangalore last year. 

The National CSR Leadership Awards recognizes the role that public procurement in India can play in achieving a more sustainable and equitable society and it acknowledges the transition that corporate social responsibility approaches have made in recent years shifting from a background issue to a priority at the forefront of business today. ESPN India was acknowledged as one of the organizations that has embraced an effective CSR agenda.

The ESPN Safe Spaces global initiative is a multi-sector collaboration with for profit and non-profit organizations working with underserved communities to enable them to have access to safe places to play sports and receive the social benefits sports offer.  The initiative recognizes the inherent power of sports and leverages its influence to galvanize community residents and other local stakeholders to have an active voice and stake in a sports-centered, community project. 

In India, the initiative is engaging local communities to build recreational sports spaces to be the home to ongoing programs for young people where they learn life-skills and are empowered to fulfill their potential, all through the power of sports. Magic Bus, one of the largest poverty alleviation programs in India, is currently implementing the program in Bandepalya serving more than 1,500 youth.

How the project works:

ESPN worked with Beyond Sport, project manager, implementation partner love.fútbol and with Magic Bus, the local programming partner, to understand what the community needed in terms of a sports space and then convened the community by using the inherent passion and excitement of sports. From there, a local committee was formed consisting of key stakeholders (schools, churches, non-profits, and businesses), promoting ownership and leadership.  Following the opening, the local committee transitioned into a Neighbors Network, responsible for the maintenance, and use of the space while Magic Bus worked with the local community to train them in the methodology of using sports to develop educational skills.

The opening of the multifunctional sports space in Bandepalya is part of a global initiative led by ESPN, which works with local communities to build safe spaces for kids to play, in addition to providing skills programming focused on enabling young people to have a more positive future.  “At ESPN we believe that sports has the ability to transform lives, and we are proud to be able to support and empower communities like Bandepalya to unlock the benefits that sports offer,” said Russell Wolff, Executive VP & Managing Director, ESPN International. “Both love.fútbol and Magic Bus have been outstanding partners on this project, helping build this safe space in a community where there is a need and where it can truly make a difference.”

The Bandepalya location was the first time the project was implemented in Asia, and was carefully selected by ESPN's Corporate Citizenship team as a marginalized community in need of support. Bandepalya is spread over approximately two kilometers, has a population of more than 7,000 people and is one of the most economically disadvantaged areas in Bangalore. It suffers from low access to quality education, health and hygiene, adequate housing, clean drinking water, sanitation and open spaces to play. With high dropout rates from school, an average child in Bandepalya only achieves education up to eighth grade standards.

ESPN India, Magic Bus and love.fútbol worked together to provide a space around which the community could come together alongside structured sports programming to tackle some of these social issues. At-risk youth received ongoing education programs around leadership and life-skills, which is already having a positive impact within the community.  The project will expand to Mumbai early next year.

Here are some highlights from the project: