Magic Bus, an India-based NGO that is transforming the lives of hundreds of thousands of underprivileged children in the country, has been recognised at the Laureus World Sports Awards with the presentation of the Laureus Sport for Good Award here.
Magic Bus, founded by Englishman Matthew Spacie and based in Mumbai, aims to take children out of poverty through a programme of mentoring and coaching. Since 2001, the Magic Bus programme has grown to embrace over 300,000 children in 12 states each week and Spacie's ambition now is to reach out to one million children by 2016.
Magic Bus, which has received funding from Laureus since its inauguration and which has been a strategic partner of the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation for five years, is the product of Spacie's fascination for India which began when, as a 17-year-old taking a break from academic studies, he worked in the Howrah leprosy centre near Kolkata.
Later, while playing rugby for Bombay Gymkhana Club, Spacie sought to use the offer of involvement in the game to improve the prospects of young boys living on the streets and in slums.
Magic Bus, which now looks after both boys and girls, was born out of that initiative and Spacie has plans to extend the idea, centred around sports-based activities and a solid contingent of volunteers, to other countries.
