Laureus Sport for Good Foundation

PROJECT
HIGHLIGHT
30
MAGIC BUS, INDIA
Through its sport and experiential learning
programmes Magic Bus’s long-term vision is to
infl uence a radical shift in young people’s attitudes
to help them build strong and aware communities
across India.
2007 was a momentous year for Magic Bus. Having launched the Centre for
Learning & Development in October 2006 Magic Bus initiated many new
programmes throughout the year and conducted residential programmes
to over 2 000 children. The project also generated revenue at the centre
for the fi rst time. Magic Bus conducted its fi rst international overseas
train-the-trainer programme in Vietnam and had the opportunity to visit
MYSA in Kenya through UK Sport. The project was selected to be part
of the London Olympics Inspiration 2012 project, a partnership between
the UK government and the Indian Ministry for Sport and Youth Affairs.
Our founder, Matthew Spacie, was awarded an MBE by the Queen, and
the organisation was given a three-year grant by the Barclays Premier
League. The Magic Bus fi rst football team moved into the fourth division
of the MDFA league and we launched our very fi rst girls’ teams in both our
community projects.
Our focus this year has been to clean up the community as well as
increase attendance of the programme. The initiatives have all come from
the children. In one community, they saved their snack money and instead
paid for paint and tiling. They cleaned a whole area in the slum, painted it
and ran a peaceful rally with banners they had made themselves to persuade
their neighbours to respect the area and keep it clean and tidy. In another
community project, a huge rubbish dump was converted into a playground
by the children and their relatives and friends. Magic Bus ensures children
are key stakeholders in the programme and, as far as possible, decisions
are made in consultation with the children, be it attendance, starting on
time, looking after equipment, organising snacks or developing community
projects outside the sessions. In the long term, we aim to make the
programmes sustainable at a community level and the focus is therefore on
interdependence rather than full reliance on Magic Bus.
This year, for the fi rst time, Magic Bus organised an open football
tournament. Around 300 men and women participated, including parents,
taxi drivers, vegetable vendors and more. The tournament not only helped
raise awareness for a child’s’ right to play, but also increased adults’
acceptance and ownership of such development programmes.
Magic Bus is in the process of developing a monitoring and evaluation
tool to measure its effectiveness. A key indicator in our analysis of projects
is their sustainability and the degree to which children have participated in
decision making.
L A U R E U S S P O R T F O R G O O D F O U N D A T I O N A N N U A L R E V I E W