Samsung Donates 2012 Footballs to Kids Company to Celebrate the Completion of '2012 Goals For Kids' Event

Samsung announced that it had donated 2012 footballs to children across the UK as part of its ongoing partnership with Kids Company, a London based charity that does an outstanding job in providing essential practical, emotional and educational support to inner-city children.

The donation of the footballs was made possible by the efforts of 2012 aspiring participants, who used their soccer skills to score a bag load of goals on Samsung’s new augmented reality football game in the ‘Samsung: Take Part 2012’ mobile app. ‘Samsung: Take Part 2012’, a mobile app designed for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, allows users to play various 3D sport games as well as providing a variety of London 2012 content, such as virtual tours of the official venues and latest news about the events.

Through the ‘Samsung: Take Part 2012’ app, players were challenged to participate in the aptly named ‘2012 Goals For Kids’ event by scoring as many goals as they could in a football penalty kick competition.

Samsung promised to donate brand new footballs to Kids Company once 2012 goals are made on the AR game, one point counted when a player scores a hat-trick of penalties. By the end of the London 2012 Paralympic Games, 2012 hat tricks had been scored, resulting in Samsung donating 2012 footballs to Kids Company.

Samsung also invited London 2012 Paralympic Games athletes Jon Pollock and Sally Brown from ‘Team Samsung’ and 4 children from the Kids Company to the Samsung Mobile PIN to celebrate the successful campaign.

An Official Worldwide Olympic and Paralympic Partner in the Wireless Communications Equipment category, Samsung has been supporting London 2012 with various on-site activities. One of its key on-site venues is Samsung Mobile PIN, a premium pop-up store to experience and purchase Samsung mobile devices. Visitors were able to participate in the ‘2012 Goals for Kids’ event by playing the AR game on the mobile phones on display at Samsung Mobile PINs over the last 11 days at the Olympic Park and Westfield.

“Kids Company very much appreciates Samsung’s donation, and we are looking forward to using it as a gift of inspiration to many of our football-loving children. We will continue to work with Samsung to maintain a close partnership,” said Camila Batmanghelidjh, the founder and CEO of Kids Company.

“We are honored to be supporting both Kids Company and the Olympic and Paralympic Games, global events that inspire people of all abilities,” said Younghee Lee, Senior Vice President and Head of Global Marketing at Samsung Mobile. “We are committed to creating smart mobile devices that can be easily adapted to meet everyone’s needs, and see this globally celebrated event as the perfect platform to share our products with all audiences.”

Notes to editors

About Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. is a global leader in semiconductor, telecommunication, digital media and digital convergence technologies with 2011 consolidated sales of US$143.1 billion. Employing approximately 206,000 people in 197 offices across 72 countries, the company operates two separate organizations to coordinate its nine independent business units: Digital Media & Communications, comprising Visual Display, Mobile Communications, Telecommunication Systems, Digital Appliances, IT Solutions, and Digital Imaging; and Device Solutions, consisting of Memory, System LSI and LED. Recognized for its industry-leading performance across a range of economic, environmental and social criteria, Samsung Electronics was named the world’s most sustainable technology company in the 2011 Dow Jones Sustainability Index. For more information, please visit www.samsung.com.


About Samsung’s Involvement in the Olympic Games
Samsung began its Olympic Games involvement as a local sponsor of the Seoul 1988 Olympic Games. Beginning with the Nagano 1998 Olympic Winter Games, the company extended its commitment to the Olympic Movement as the Worldwide Olympic Partner in the Wireless Communications Equipment category, providing its proprietary wireless communications program, called Wireless Olympic Works (WOW), and mobile phones. These innovative mobile phone technologies provide the Olympic Family with real-time information and communications services. Samsung is also a Presenting Partner of the Olympic Torch Relay and hosts various digital marketing campaigns to share the excitement of the Olympic Games with people around the world and enable everyone to participate in the Games through its smart mobile technology. Samsung’s commitment as a Worldwide Olympic Partner continues through to Rio 2016.

About Samsung’s Involvement in the Paralympic Games
Samsung is a Worldwide Partner of the IPC in the category 'Mobile Telecommunications'. The partnership was launched on the eve of the Torino 2006 Paralympic Winter Games, which Samsung supported as an Official Games Partner for the first time ever. For the London 2012 Paralympic Games, Samsung this year launched the ‘SPORT DOESN’T CARE WHO YOU ARE’ film, featuring some of the world’s leading London 2012 Paralympians. This viral film  was designed to challenge viewers to rethink their attitudes towards Paralympics athletes. Samsung also donated 50 of the 100 GALAXY Notes featured in the opening ceremony of the London 2012 Olympic Games to 50 Paralympic athlete bloggers, who used them to blog about their London 2012 experience through the ‘Samsung Paralympic Blogger Program.’

About Samsung’s Partnership with the Kids Company
Samsung became a technical partner of the Kids Company on 23rd August 2012, and the partnership will run until 23rd August 2014. As part of the partnership Samsung UK will supply product and expertise to the Kids Company and will help set up and manage a Samsung Digital Studio.