Hamisi Mohamed from Kenya emerges as WorldRemit and Arsenal FC’s Future Star

After a tightly contested series of initial rounds, and a closely matched final stage entry, the public votes are in. With 35% of the vote count, it will be Hamisi Mohamed from Kenya travelling to England where he will be training with the Arsenal Soccer School on a special customized program. As the competition finally draws to a close, WordRemit, official online money transfer partner of Arsenal FC, would like to thank everyone that participated in the “Future Stars” programme; from the 700 initial online applicants on futurestars.worldremit.com , to the many voters that participated in the process from across the African continent.

Hamisi Mohamed, or do we prefer his home flavored name, Coach Kaka, has already been impacting lives in his community through football. A part founder of the Young Talents Soccer Academy, a mixed academy in Embul Bul, Ngong helping children succeed on and off the pitch. It is is exciting to see what he will do with his experience at Arsenal Soccer School working with their coaches.

“We use the power of football to address social issues, to teach them life skills. We want them to learn to respect themselves, to know the effects of drug abuse, the effects of violence and crime,” says Hamisi.

WorldRemit and Arsenal are happy to see a winner emerge reflecting the shared values of both entities, giving back through service. The 25 earlier shortlisted coaches have already been granted Arsenal replica shirts for their entire youth squad in recognition of their work, and here are some words from the partners.

Andrew Stewart, Managing Director Middle East & Africa at WorldRemit said:

“Our business is all about helping our customers’ financial support for their community to go further. The work of all the coaches in the Future Stars programme has reinforced our belief in the immense potential of sport to inspire positive change and encouraged us to explore further opportunities to support the communities we serve through sport. We hope that this programme will encourage others to follow their example and that this will be only the beginning of a much longer story.”

Back in 1985, in response to social unrest on London estates, Arsenal became one of the first clubs in the UK to set up a dedicated community team in 1985. The Young Talents academy emerged from similar origins: Hamisi founded the club over 10 years ago to bring young members of his community together following the post-election violence in Kenya.

As Arsenal’s community has grown, so has the impact of Arsenal in the Community’s work and the team now deliver sport, social and education programmes to over 5,000 individuals each week.

Simon McManus of Arsenal Soccer Schools said:

“Arsenal itself is an example of how the social impact of football can grow from a small local community to an international programme. It is inspiring to us to see how coaches across Africa are using the power of football to support and educate children at the grassroots level and I think there is a lot we can also learn from them.

“Both WorldRemit and Arsenal have grown from humble beginnings to become global businesses, credited with transforming our respective sectors. Now we hope that together we can help Hamisi to play a similarly transformational role in Kenya – perhaps even internationally.”

About WorldRemit

WorldRemit is changing the way people send money.

It’s easy – just open the app or visit the website – no more agents, no more queues, no more time wasted

· Transfers to most countries are instant – send money like an instant message.

· Send money anytime with award-winning customer service team available to help 24/7

· 85,000 5-star reviews for our app

· More ways to receive (Mobile Money, bank transfer, cash pickup, and mobile airtime top-up).

· Available in over 50 countries and more than 145+ destinations.

· Backed by Accel Partners and TCV – investors in Facebook, Spotify, Netflix and Slack.

WorldRemit’s global headquarters are in London, UK with offices in the United States, Canada, South Africa, Singapore, the Philippines, Japan, Australia and New Zealand.

About Arsenal Football Club

Arsenal is one of the leading clubs in world football with a strong heritage of success, progressive thinking and financial stability.

The club was founded in 1886 in Woolwich, south London, before moving to Highbury in north London in 1913. We moved to Emirates Stadium in 2006.

Arsenal has an impressive roll of honour: English League Champions 13 times, FA Cup winners a record 13 times, League Cup winners twice and European Cup Winners’ Cup (1994) and European Fairs Cup (1970) winners once. In addition, Arsenal Women are the most successful English club in women’s football. They celebrated their 30th season last year.

The Arsenal Foundation uses the power of football and the Arsenal name to inspire and support young people in north London and across the globe. The Arsenal Foundation raises funds each year and works with a number of key partners including Save The Children, Islington Giving, Willow and the Gunners’ Fund. Locally, Arsenal in the Community has delivered programmes to drive positive social outcomes for more than 30 years.

For further information please visit www.arsenal.com

About Arsenal Soccer Schools

Arsenal Soccer Schools encourage children to be active whilst learning to play football; with the emphasis placed on passing, movement, creativity and technical development through teamwork.

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