Arsenal Football Club will dedicate its Barclays Premier League fixture against Newcastle on Saturday to The Arsenal Foundation, which supports projects that transform the lives of young people in the UK and overseas.
The traditional annual fundraiser, now in its eighth year, will once again see Arsène Wenger and the Arsenal first-team squad donate a day’s wages to the cause and encourage supporters to get involved and join in a range of fundraising activities on the day.
To support charity partner Save the Children’s Christmas Jumper Day, the Arsenal Ladies and Arsenal first-team players have been taking selfies wearing the official Arsenal Christmas jumper and encouraging supporters to do the same.
"It’s a big tradition for us and we hope the supporters join in, share their best Christmas jumper selfies and give what they can too"
Supporters are asked to wear their jumpers to Saturday's match and take their own Christmas jumper selfie in the build-up to Save the Children’s Christmas Jumper Day on Friday, then posting them on the Arsenal Foundation’s Facebook or Twitter page using #AFCFoundation.
All those who get involved with the campaign will be entered into a competition to win the matchday ball used in Arsenal’s 1-0 victory against Southampton on December 3 - signed by the goalscorer, Alexis Sanchez. The winner will be announced on Saturday.
The big screens at Emirates Stadium will be showing some of the best pictures before the match and at half-time on Saturday.
As part of the dedicated charity matchday, supporters can donate to the Arsenal Foundation by texting AFCF12 £[amount] to 70070.
Supporters have already been purchasing festive Arsenal jumpers from official club retail outlets with 20 per cent of the full retail price of each jumper donated to the Arsenal Foundation’s global charity partner, Save the Children.
The adult jumpers have now sold out but junior Christmas jumpers are still available.
Fifty pence from every matchday programme sold at the game will also be donated to support even more projects that reach young people. The matchday programme will feature different front cover editions of Arsenal stars in their jumpers.
Other fundraising activities taking place on Saturday include:
- Bucket collections from The Arsenal Foundation’s charity partners, the Willow Foundation and Save the Children
- A chance for a Junior Gunner to take part in the half-time penalty shoot-out if they’re spotted in a Christmas jumper
- Raffles and spot prizes
Since The Arsenal Foundation was launched in 2012, more than £1.5million has been committed to fund projects reaching more than 100,000 young people in the UK and overseas.
Speaking about the forthcoming matchday, Arsène Wenger said: “We are always very proud to support the work of The Arsenal Foundation, helping young people to fulfil their potential and achieve great things in their lives.
"It’s a big tradition for us and we hope the supporters join in, share their best Christmas jumper selfies and give what they can too.”
More details on how everybody can get involved in the charity matchday will be announced during the countdown to this special event. To find out more, visit www.arsenal.com/thearsenalfoundation.
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