AS Monaco Village: successful second edition, Thiago Scuro presents donation to Frankie’s Children
School supplies were handed over at Port Hercule on Friday 22 August, wth Thiago Scuro present © AS Monaco
AS Monaco and the ‘Les Enfants de Frankie’ charity have been working together since the start of the summer to collect school supplies at the AS Village on Port Hercule.
The campaign ended on Friday 22 August with an official donation ceremony attended by Thiago Scuro, ASM General Manager, Francien Giraudi, President and Founder of Les Enfants de Frankie , and Axelle Amalberti Verdino, Deputy Mayor in charge of events and leisure activities at Monaco Town Hall.
The school supplies drive, organised as part of the AS Monacoeur programme over the duration of the AS Monaco Summer Village, called for donations from the Club’s supporters visiting the Village, as well as from Club employees. The aim of the initiative is to equip underprivileged children from the region as they head back to school. Thanks to the generosity of visitors and supporters, hundreds of items were collected, including exercise books, pens, glue, rulers and school bags.
All the school supplies will be given to families from the region who struggle to cope with the cost of going back to school.
A partnership for the benefit of children
Speaking at the ceremony, Thiago Scuro expressed his delight at the success of the Village’s second edition: “We are very happy to have had the opportunity to organise the Village with Monaco Town Hall for a second season. We’ve been able to bring in players, get closer to the community, fans and children, organise football tournaments and create ties between our club, our fans and our town. And of course, summer in Monaco means a lot of tourism, with visitors from all over the world.”
He feels the partnership with Les enfants de Frankie illustrates the club’s values: “Every time we can give something back to society, we do, and that’s very important. Personally I come from a country where we care a lot about helping others, about providing them with better conditions, especially when it comes to a project about children. We’re talking about children and education here, and sport makes for a perfect combination.”
AS Monaco’s general manager also said he was optimistic about the future:“We have lots of ideas for next year. Our intention is to continue to expand, with more events here during the summer village.” He also stressed the importance of “creating ties not only within our community, but also in the surrounding region, with a particular focus on children, who are the future.”
Activities for the public all summer
The Village put on a wide range of free activities throughout the summer season, including a mini football pitch, human table football, a giant target, a prize quiz on AS Monaco, as well as the shop-truck.
In addition to these daily activities, a number of special events were organised in the Village, including a 4vs4 tournament for 12-15 year-olds and a 3vs3 tournament for adults, both of which were a great success and helped to bring the Club’s fans together.
‘Donne-moi ton cartable’ (give me your satchel), helping hundreds of children
Francien Giraudi, founder and president of Les Enfants de Frankie since 1997, made no secret of her satisfaction: “This is the first time we have teamed up with AS Monaco. We work a lot with them, with the footballers, but this is a first for the satchel campaign. It went very well, we’re very happy!”
The ‘Donne-moi ton cartable’ (Give me your satchel) campaign, which the charity has been running for around ten years, addresses a real need: “It’s not easy for families to buy all these supplies for school , because it’s very expensive and the cost goes up every year.” The drive represents “a small part” of what is needed, with the charity’s president pointing out that “300 to 400 children are waiting” for supplies.
A promising season ahead
With over 500 daily visitors, almost 25,000 over the summer, the second edition of the Summer Village has been a resounding success. Each of the three autograph sessions (with Fai, Dier and Biereth) drew around 300 supporters.
In line with Club President Dmitry Rybolovlev’s wishes, the Club’s local initiatives, especially those aimed at youngsters, will be repeated and expanded during the season: the Kids Tour will ‘kick off’ again in September for its fourth season, the Munegu and ÜNSEME cups will be back in the second half of the season, as will the “Tous au Stade” campaigns aimed at young members of amateur clubs. These initiatives demonstrate AS Monaco’s intention of being close to its community and of leveraging sport as a vehicle for community and sharing.