CHILDREN from Mumbai are set to attend a Bagshot school as part of a perspective changing exchange.
The group of pupils are part of the Organisation for Social Change, Awareness and Responsibility (OSCAR), a non-profit group that supports vulnerable young people from slums across India, and will visit Hall Grove School.
The children will interact with pupils playing football in a tournament event, as well as a coaching session with the Chelsea FC Academy.
Lucinda Sowerbutts, patron of OSCAR, explained why she organised the tournament.
“I met OSCAR founder, Ashok Rathod in Mumbai in 2015 while I was working for an NGO," she said.
"Ashok was born and still lives in the slums. His parents forced him to go to school. Most of his friends were addicts by the time they were 12.
"He set up the OSCAR foundation to encourage children to go to school. Meeting Ashok was a ‘thunderbolt moment’; he was so inspiring I could not just walk away. I suggested the idea of the UK School football tour; he was very enthusiastic.
"Providing the 14 boys with a passport, an airline ticket and two weeks filled with sporting, educational and cultural experiences will be life changing.
"Not only for them but those they meet. The kids will return to their communities as role models, sharing their knowledge and inspiring the community as a whole. Everyone needs role models and in keeping with the ethos of OSCAR, we will have created 14 more.”
To find out more go to www.oscar-foundation.org/about/
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