Indian organisation bags the Laureus 'Sport for Good' Award

Indian organisation brings home the Laureus Sport for Good Award

At the Laureus World Sports Awards, Indian non-profit organisation ‘Magic Bus’ bagged the award in the Sport for Social Development category.

Mathew Spacie, founder and chairman at Magic Bus, said after receiving the award: “Fifteen years ago, Magic Bus was started because outside my office there lived some street boys who wanted to change their journey in life. Today Magic Bus has lakhs of children attending our programme. We take children on a journey from childhood all the way to livelihood and out of poverty.”

This award marks a special moment in the history of sport for development in India.

Magic Bus supports over 250,000 children in their programme across 17 states, and has a mentor and volunteer network of 8,000 youth. The organisation uses sports and activities as the key activities to mentor children and youth out of poverty. The Magic Bus programme is a breakthrough in an environment where a quarter million children would not have had an opportunity to break out of the poverty cycle and realise their potential.

Mr. Spacie further added: “It is such an important time to be working in India. We have 700 million people who live below the poverty line, 60% of our children do not finish school. We see the award as a great tribute to the use of sport for good. This is a magical moment for us.”

Magic Bus is a partner of Laureus Sport for Good Foundation since 2012.