Singapore, 15 July 2017 – Amidst the excitement and boisterous cheers from the crowd this morning, ISCOS officially unveiled the Soccer 4 Champions (“S4C”) Programme today at its Family Day held at ORTO today.

Targeting beneficiaries with ages ranging from 11 to 16 years old, the S4C Programme is the latest initiative rolled out under the Fairy Godparent Programme (FGP), in a bid to enhance the children’s overall well-being through sports. By nurturing a fervent passion and commitment in soccer, the long term goal is to develop strong discipline, focus and resilience among the participants, which are essential to positive character building in their years of growing up.

Under S4C, there will be an introductory soccer clinic before participants can begin their bi-monthly training sessions together with Mr Antoine Viterale, a professional player from Hougang United Football Club. The 12-month pilot run of this initiative would begin in the fourth quarter of 2017, with a soccer camp planned by the end of the programme.

Commenting on why he is keen to be part of this meaningful initiative, Mr Viterale said, “I am very lucky to be doing what I love today. To me, football is more than a mere physical sport – it helped me find a sense of direction and life purpose. I hope to share my love and passion with the children so that they can experience similar joy as mine, be inspired and eventually find their purpose in life.”

The launch was one of the highlights at ISCOS Family Day this morning. The ISCOS Family Day is an annual affair under the Yellow Ribbon Fund-ISCOS Fairy Godparent Programme (FGP), which reaches out to children and families of ex-offenders. Themed as “AdventuReR @ The Park”, the carnival-like event engaged over 300 parents, children and family members to spend a good time of family bonding in a light-hearted manner. Apart from the various team-building activities and games, the participants were also in for a treat with good food and lucky draw prizes. The event was graced by Mr Louis Ng, Member of Parliament for Nee Soon GRC, and supported by volunteers from organisations such as Goldbell Corporation and Baker & McKenzie.Wong & Leow.

The FGP supports children of ex-offenders from low-income families to achieve a good education and acquire positive life skills, with the aim of preventing intergenerational offending. Under the programme, ISCOS provides academic assistance through bursary awards, tuition bursary and mentoring to the beneficiaries. We place emphasis on the importance of building strong family units through family bonding activities and parenting workshops. Backed by the support from volunteers, we also help create conducive study corners for the children at their own homes through home reorganisation and/or painting projects.

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About Industrial & Services Co-operative Society Ltd (ISCOS)

Since 1989, ISCOS has been extending friendship and support to ex-offenders and their families so that they can lead meaningful and productive lives. Together with the CARE Network/Yellow Ribbon Project partners such as Singapore Prison Service, SCORE and other aftercare agencies, ISCOS takes an active role in engaging the community to help ex-offenders and their families gain a foothold in the society.

As a social Co-operative for ex-offenders under the purview of the Ministry of Home Affairs, our programmes and services are geared towards enhancing the skills level of our members, connecting them with supportive employers, providing social support through positive peer groups, building stronger family units, as well as extending academic assistance to their children in order to prevent intergenerational offending.

For more information, please visit www.iscos.org.sg.

About Antoine Viterale

Antoine officially joined Hougang United in December 2016 after a successful trial with the club where he was featured playing against MISC-MIFA and DRB Hicom, scoring twice in both games. Currently a football striker, the 21-year old began his teenage career with the Kitchee FC youth academy in 2008 and has since then played in various training camps and clubs in Italy, Switzerland and Spain where he spent most of his youth.

Antoine who holds an Italian passport was born and raised in Hong Kong. He is now a resident in Singapore.

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Looi Jo Anne                                                                      Cherrilyn Baculanta

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