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Chelsea Football Club released its first ever Corporate Social Responsibility Report and announced a new Global Charity Partner at an event in the House of Commons last week.

In front of a distinguished audience that included Cabinet Ministers, MPs and dignitaries from football, Chelsea FC Chief Executive Peter Kenyon, several players and manager José Mourinho revealed the extent of the club’s commitment to its community, charities and its social, economic and environmental responsibilities during the 2005/6 season.

The event, on the Terrace, had cross-party support and was sponsored by the All Party Football Group which has 140 MPs. Minister for Sport Richard Caborn, Conservative Party Leader David Cameron and Labour MP Alan Keen, Chair of the All Party Football Group, endorse the report and Chelsea’s work.

Richard Caborn MP said “I welcome the publication of Chelsea's CSR Report as an example of what clubs are achieving, not only within their own communities but now on a wider scale. The importance of sport cannot be over estimated as a vehicle for delivering healthy lifestyles and social inclusion and Chelsea's work cuts across many Government departments.”

David Cameron MP said “I know that many football clubs go out of their way to use the immense influence they have for good. We should celebrate and promote the positive work they do. Chelsea is to be congratulated on this excellent initiative.”

Peter Kenyon said “We have produced this report because we are proud of the work we do, because we want to communicate that to all our stakeholders, because we strive for best practice in every area of our business, and because we want to set benchmarks for ourselves for improvement year on year.

“Not only does Chelsea want to be a successful team on the field, we also want to make a difference off it, creating a legacy at home and abroad. This demonstrates a commitment to our community and an acknowledgement of the broader social, economic and environmental impacts of our business.”

The next stage of Chelsea’s CSR strategy was also unveiled - a first Global Charity Partnership with Right to Play. Right to Play is a unique international humanitarian organisation that uses sport and play to overcome war, poverty and disease. It works with major international organisations such as UNICEF, UNHCR and the International Red Cross.

Kenyon added “We are particularly proud of our new Global Charity Partnership with Right to Play. With Chelsea’s help, we hope Right to Play will become one of the most recognisable names in the international charity community. Our partnership slogan is ‘when children play, the world wins’ and players, management, staff and fans will be doing everything we can to achieve that.”