A foundation christened Gladys Ayebea Hammond Foundation (GAHF) and aimed at promoting social mobility through sports amongst underprivileged children and young girls was launched last week Tuesday in Accra.
Social mobility refers to changes in a person’s socio-economic situation, either about their parents (inter-generational mobility) or throughout their lifetime (intra-generational mobility).
It was created to honour the memory of the late Mrs Hammond, an educationist and sports lover who was committed to ensuring equal access to education among children, especially girls.
The GAHF would promote its activities by organising annual hockey tournaments, setting up mentorship schemes, identifying young talent for further development, educational activities and scholarships.
Speaking at the launch, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the GAHF, Mr Richard Hammond, said this year the foundation would mentor about 120 girls in all aspects of their life so they could contribute to the socio-economic growth of the country.
The girls, he said would be selected from six schools in Suhum in the Eastern region to be mentored over 10 years.
“We have a partnership with a school in the UK and every year we will send some of the kids there to study. This among other programmes will be part of our yearly activities,” he said.
GAHF, he said would also partner the Ghana Technical and Vocational Education Training (TVET) Centre to ensure that the girls that would not be able to further their education were provided with hands-on skills.
Mr Hammond added that there would be a hockey tournament each year in Suhum where the winners would play the veteran ladies. Also, six senior teams would participate in the competition.
He appealed to all stakeholders to actively support the works of the GAHF to ensure the kids are trained to be professionals in various fields to contribute to the development of the country.
The Executive Director of the University of Applied Management (UAM), Ghana Campus, Professor Martin Gyambrah, declared his outfit’s support for the foundation, saying that the UAM would provide a full educational scholarship worth 20,000 euros to two students each year.
He added that 20 girls would be allowed to partake in a one-year boot camp every year which would be organised by the UAM.
The Founder of Kubzerich Sports Club, Hajia Zenabu Sulemana, urged the girls to strive for excellence in whatever they set out to do as engaging in sports as a female student was not an easy venture.
She appealed to the authorities to provide sustainable solutions to address the stigma surrounding females in sports as it could negatively affect their confidence.
BY JESSEL LARTEY THERSON-COFIE
