British Karate Federation News

BKF President, Mr Terry Connell, appointed as the WKF representative for UNICEF

Dec 1, 2009

It was officially confirmed today that the WKF President, Mr Antonio Espinos, has appointed the BKF president, Mr Terry Connell, as the WKF representative for UNICEF, the world's leading organisation working for children and their rights. They work with families, local communities, partners and governments in more than 190 countries to help every child realise their full potential.

Recently, Terry proposed that the BKF International Open, due to take place on the 10-11 July 2010, in London, and subsequently moved to Glasgow, should take the opportunity to raise awareness of the plight of these children, and act as a fundraiser for UNICEF.

The overwhelmingly positive response from the BKF Executive Committee prompted Terry to discuss the project with UNICEF in London. After careful vetting, Unicef stated that the proposed partnership with the BKF was "a perfect fit."

Since then Terry has been in talks with UNICEF UK and plans to meet with them at their London office to discuss the Memorandum of Understanding [MOU] tabled by UNICEF Geneva, for worldwide acceptance.

This document would, after WKF and UNICEF mutual approval, be generic, and accepted in all 209 WKF member countries.

Terry stated that "This is a great honour for British Karate, and we should all be proud of this British initiative.

I believe this can only work if Britain takes the lead. Other countries will then follow, I have no doubt of that. Success will be a team effort, a massive team effort, and I encourage every student from white belt to black belt, their families and friends, individuals and associations, to work with us to help these desperately needy children.

Terry Connell
CFO BTP Scotland

Should you wish to be part of this team please contact Terry Connell: 0141 882 4880 or terry.connell@bt.com

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