Koora Time, a sustainable initiative created and designed by Qatar Shell and Qatar Football Association (QFA) to improve the health and wellbeing of young people in Qatar through football, has earned its second Corporate Social Responsibility award this year.
Koora Time won the Silver International CSR Excellence Award in the Sports Sector in the Community Commitment category, adding a new accolade to its growing list of awards.
These include the ‘Best Community Programme Award’, which was presented at the 11th Global CSR Summit & Awards in Malaysia recently.
Mansoor al-Ansari, general secretary of QFA, received the new CSR award on July 22 at a ceremony event the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts.
He said: “I’m proud to collect the award on behalf of QFA and Qatar Shell. This award recognises Koora Time’s tangible contribution to the promotion of a healthy youth community in Qatar by not only attracting over 100,000 boys and girls to regularly exercise, but also by helping 95% of the participants reduce their body mass index.”
The International CSR Excellence Awards, operated by The Green Organisation, an independent, international, non-profit and non-political environmental group founded in 1994, recognises responsible companies and organisations that give back to the community.
This latest award brings the total number of local and international awards that Koora Time has received to 11, since its launch in 2012.
Among these are the Asian Football Confederation’s Dream of Asia Award in the area of social responsibility in 2014 and 2016.
Qatar Shell and QFA are currently gearing up to launch the 8th season of Koora Time.
The 7th season of the initiative attracted a weekly average of 3,500 participants, marking a 133% year on year increase in the average overall numbers.
Notably, 53% of participants were girls, an increase from 50% in the previous season, which reflects the initiative’s success in supporting female empowerment in Qatar.
The initiative is based on FC Barcelona Foundation’s FutbolNet methodology, and provides children with an extra 72 hours of extra-curricular physical education per year.
Details on the Koora Time programme are available online at www.kooratime.qa.
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