Right to Dream has been named as the Foundation of the Year at the ninth annual Peace and Sports Awards.
The ceremony was held on Thursday 24 November in Monaco.
This award recognises the organisation’s commitment to promoting social awareness and peace through sport.
Global delegate representatives from sports, governments, federations, companies and NGOs voted Right to Dream the winner of the prestigious award during a three-day Peace and Sport International Forum.
The two other nominees in the Foundation of the Year catergory were the International Paralympic Committee’s Agitos Foundation and the Norwegian Refugee Council.
Right to Dream joins an influential list of previous winners, with last year’s recipients the UEFA Foundation for Children recognised for their impact on improving living conditions for disadvantaged children.
Right to Dream’s Global Foundation Director, Lucy Mills, who was at the ceremony to collect the award, commented:
”It is a privilege to receive this award on behalf of my team at the Academy in Ghana, our football club FC Nordsjaelland in Denmark, and in the UK and USA.”
During her acceptance speech, Lucy Mills highlighted the award as testament to the organisation’s commitment to doing football differently:
”Many of us are disillusioned with the direction that elements of the game is taking, yet recognise that football players are some of the most influential figures today. We believe that by nurturing talented, young people we can help create a generation of leaders who will make a significant social impact to bring about peace and prosperity in their own communities and beyond.”
The award comes just a month after Right to Dream’s founder Tom Vernon, was named in the Leaders in Sport 40 under 40 for 2016.
The Peace and Sport Award is also not the first time the organisation has been recognised for its contribution to peace, with the academy named Peace Ambassadors by the Swedish media company, Modern Times Group, in 2010.
These prestigious recognitions from highly respected bodies demonstrates the significant impact that Right to Dream is having in Ghana and across the globe
