RIYADH: A private institution in Saudi Arabia has come up with the idea to use sports clubs to provide housing for families in need.
Unveiling the details of the project, called the Jood League, Jood Aleskan spokesman Majid Aba Al-Khail said the idea is to identify families in need and allocate them to one of the four participating Saudi clubs.
The clubs’ fans will then be encouraged to compete in raising funds for the families to help to provide housing.
Aba Al-Khail said this year they have been able to provide rental support to more than 800 families, providing housing for more than 480 families so far.
“The Jood platform aims to reach all segments of society, and there is no doubt that the sports audience, which is often young, plays a huge role in the community. Therefore, we want to reach out to these fans and introduce them to the platform through the highly popular sports clubs,” he said. “In order to reach out to all segments of society you have to vary your communication and media strategy.”
Al-Khail said that since the launch of the platform a large number of people have made generous contributions and the traffic to the platform has increased manifold.
He said they came up with the idea after researching the mechanisms of housing donation.
FASTFACT
• The idea is to identify families in need and allocate them to one of the four participating Saudi clubs.
• The clubs’ fans will then be encouraged to compete in raising funds for the families to help to provide housing.
• More than 800 families have been provided rental support and more than 480 families have been provided housing solutions.
They looked aspects such as the donors’ confidence about their donation going to the right people, the ease of access of the beneficiary to the service, and the level of safety and the governance of the financial processes and transaction of the donation.
“After we found out that there is a need to address these points the idea of the Jood Aleskan platform emerged. We received support from King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who donated SR100 million and SR50 million respectively to the cause,” he said.
Al-Khail said they identify families in need in coordination with partner charities. Once families are identified, a social worker visits them to verify their claim, he added. Government sources and records are also used to double-check the authenticity of their claims before their final selection.
Once it is established that a family is eligible for support, the case is declared on the platform.
To make contributions or to find more information about the project visit https://joodeskan.org.sa/home.
