“Football can be a lifeline”

Alex Chidiac designs t-shirt to help support young women and girls at Moving The Goalposts

Since joining Common Goal and pledging 1% to Moving The Goalposts – the football-based community organisation which uses football to help girls and women overcome social obstacles in coastal Kenya – Alex Chidiac has been adamant in playing an active role in supporting its work. After receiving a letter from a young woman from one of its programmes detailing its impact, she was moved to take further action. Here she explains why she has now designed a t-shirt to help raise funds and support these young people one step further.

Football can be a lifeline to so many people. It’s more than just a game, it’s a connection between millions of people around the world. It is passion, it is perseverance, it is dedication, it is happiness, it is heartache - but most of all, football is a community. I aim to make sure that I give back to that community.

In early 2019, I joined Common Goal, pledging 1% of my salary to an organisation called Moving The Goalposts (MTG) based in Kilifi, Kenya. MTG aims to educate and empower girls in the region through the game of football.

Late last year I received a letter from one of the girls in the programme. She told me about the positive impact the programme has had on her and that her dream is to become a doctor to treat people who are suffering.

She shared with me that it’s common for women and girls to have to stay at home during their menstruation instead of going to work and school as they don’t have enough money to afford sanitary products.

She then went on to ask me if women from my country face the same challenges.

After that letter, I knew I needed to take action. I started to educate myself on these issues. I learnt this problem affects many women all over the world and that there are some incredible organisations fighting this cause.

To go alongside my 1% salary pledge, I have designed this shirt to raise funds to provide the girls in the programme with reusable sanitary pads from AFRIpads, to keep them in school, in football, and to make sure they know being a woman should never stop them achieving their goals.

Each shirt sold will go towards the purchase of reusable pads for three girls.  

This shirt represents a continuation. A continuation of the work that is being done across the world, through football. To continue to educate and inspire. To continue to support those who need it most. To keep fighting these challenges together.

To purchase your own Moving The Goalpost t-shirt designed by Alex Chidiac click here.