大象传媒 Scotland - 大象传媒 Scotland - Mel Young has saved the world billions and won a host of prestigious awards 鈥� so why isn鈥檛 he famous?

Mel Young has saved the world billions and won a host of prestigious awards 鈥� so why isn鈥檛 he famous?

27 November 2017

Mel Young was enjoying a beer on the Cape Town beach with his friend Harold Schmidt when they had a thought: why don’t we hold a World Cup for homeless players?

Mel became interested in radical politics while at university

The idea wasn’t completely out of nowhere. Mel was the co-founder of the Big Issue in Scotland and .

In the hands of other people, this might not have become a reality.

But Mel is a person who likes to get things done.

The first Homeless World Cup was held in 2003, with players from 18 countries taking part. By 2017, when the tournament was held in Oslo, it had grown to include

He told Stark Talk that there are .

‘Some of the players in some countries don't have any identity at all, let alone a passport. Brazil, for example, they're born on the street, they have names, they say they're a certain age but they don't have any identity.’

These players have to go through various processes to become officially registered before they can get the documentation needed to travel abroad.

The rapid growth of the Homeless World Cup is especially remarkable given the size of the organisation – there are just four full-time members of staff.

Mexico won the tournament in 2015 and 2016

‘We didn't want to create a big administrative headquarters because then you have to go fundraising all the time.’

‘So what we've done is create this network where each country is autonomous and then buying into the brand. And that's really worked, that's why we've grown so fast, it's a a strategy that's really worked.’

Any money spent on running the Homeless World Cup is an investment that massively pays off according to Mel.

The 2016 tournament in Glasgow created $13 million in social capital.

The Homeless World Cup Foundation via programmes from its partners around the world.

‘This is the saving to society by someone not being homeless, the amount of police time, hostel time, whatever. Then if you take them off the street you're obviously saving society that amount of money.’

‘Which means that it's billions actually that we've contributed to global society since we started.’

Mel’s efforts have not gone unnoticed by the establishment, both in the UK and abroad.

Sport has the power to change lives.

Mel Young

– Michael Jordan and Ronaldo are amoung the previous winners. He also received an MBE in the .

He’s not desperate to become a household name though.

‘I’m not a great believer of the current cult in the media of celebrity which sometimes happens. I believe if you want to change the world, and the world needs to change, all of us have a role to play as individuals’.

Edi Stark talks to Mel Young, one of the world鈥檚 leading social entrepreneurs. Originally a journalist by trade, it has been his mission not to report the story but to change it, which he has achieved with phenomenal success.

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