Football Stars Help UKFast Support the Right To Play

Manchester, United Kingdom, May 21, 2010 --(PR.com)-- Earl Barrett, former England star, impressed Lawrence Jones, MD of UKFast with his passion for the sport's ability to improve young lives. Knowing that Jones has funded grass roots rugby for over a decade, Barrett feels that Right To Play is a project UKFast is uniquely placed to support.

"Right To Play is using football and other activities to enhance child development in disadvantaged areas," says Barrett. "And because UKFast is a technology company it can get involved simply by doing what it does best - hosting. It's a win-win situation, because the level at which UKFast contributes is directly linked to the company's own success."

UKFast is assisting the charity through technology giant Microsoft Corp. For every copy of Windows Server 2008 that UKFast purchases, Microsoft will make a donation to Right To Play. The more copies of Windows Server 2008 the company sells, the more Right To Play can fund its projects in Africa and around the world.

Johann Olav Koss, President and CEO of Right To Play, says, "Each week, almost 700,000 children attend regular Right To Play programming and special sports events made possible by the contributions of companies such as Microsoft and its hosting partners.

"Our mission is to use sport and play as a tool to help children build critical life skills, such as self-esteem, respect for oneself and others, tolerance, and teamwork. We believe this is critical to a child's development and must be fostered in order to create a safer, healthier and more productive society."

"Microsoft is excited to work with UKFast and contribute to Right To Play's efforts to better the lives of children through sport and play," said Brian Goldfarb, director of the developer platform group at Microsoft. "Efforts associated with the 'Kick It' promotion will provide Right To Play with the financial resources and technology necessary to enable the organization to increase the efficiency and impact of their incredible work."

When Lawrence Jones learned of the opportunity he was only too pleased to get involved. "Sportsmen like Earl are tremendous ambassadors for the game and they also work tirelessly to improve communities. Alongside our fund raising with Microsoft, our job now is to work closely with Earl and involve more inspiring players who will raise the profile of the charity and ultimately help the cause in a much bigger way."

As main sponsor of Sale Sharks Premiership Rugby Club, UKFast is passionate about development through sport. The technology company also sponsors two young British tennis stars, Naomi Broady (19) and Liam Broady (15), and has sponsored the Manchester Squash Open and British Superbikes teams. This is the first time that Jones has had the chance to support communities through football and he is looking forward to making the most of the opportunity.

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