How foundation helps sports development

The likes of Luis Suarez, Fernando Torres, Xabi Alonso and more will arrive in L4 for the special encounter between sides selected and captained by Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher.

For fans, it will be a chance to watch their former heroes, as well as opposition players, current Reds not on international duty and a handful of Academy talents in action on the hallowed turf.

But the event is about more than 90 minutes of football. In the words of Gerrard: "Unbelievable charities are going to be getting support. I'm really proud and humbled to support them and so are all the other players involved."

Five local charities, including Alder Hey Children's Hospital, will benefit from the game, and we've been taking a closer look at the vital work being carried out by the organisations.

We've already seen how the Reds foundation will use funds raised to help educate youngsters in the region, address men's health issues and aid military veterans - and today, our final focus is on the foundation's work through sport and football, specifically...

With the support of the Barclays Premier League and other partners, the Liverpool FC Foundation delivers a range of programmes, directly related to sporting activities.

School Sports

The foundation's School Sports programme promotes football and sport in schools and community settings, with a remit of delivering high-quality curriculum coaching aimed at improving physical activity, teaching and developing new skills. The scheme runs breakfast and after-school clubs and also opens up opportunities for routes into competitive football in the form of the Premier League Schools Tournament.

Premier League 4 Sport 

PL4S is an innovative project funded by a joint partnership between the Premier League and Sport England which encourages young people to participate in a range of sports outside school hours, by improving the infrastructure and supporting links between schools and clubs to widen the reach of sport. The foundation currently offers seven sports as part of its PL4S programme - including basketball, badminton, boxing, netball, table tennis, volleyball and athletics - and each week delivers 25 free sessions across Merseyside in local sports and community centres.

Premier League Girls

The Premier League Girls programme was launched in October 2013 and looks to encourage females aged 14 and over to take part in regular football activities. Sport England invested in the Football Association for the specific development of the female game, which has allowed 87 Premier League and Football League clubs, including Liverpool and their foundation, to deliver the programme. In November last year, as part of the project, Liverpool Ladies duo Natasha Dowie and Fara Williams paid a special visit to Cowley International College in St Helens, to encourage more women and girls to get involved in playing football.

Kicks

Kicks began as a pilot project in London between the Premier League and the Metropolitan Police in 2006, with the aim of using football to bring communities together and engage with young people. Its mission statement is to 'build safer, stronger, more respectful communities through the development of young peoples' potential', getting to youngsters who had previously proven difficult to reach and guiding them towards a range of healthy and constructive activities. Kicks is targeted at those living in communities where they are considered to be more vulnerable to crime either as victims or potential offenders, and the project works with 650 local Kicks partners, 19 police forces and 60 local authorities.

Respect 4 All 

The Liverpool FC Foundation's Respect 4 All programme, based at St Margaret's CE School in Aigburth and Woodchurch High School in Wirral, delivers free impairment specific multi-sport classes to more than 150 children and adults across Liverpool and Wirral every week. The classes, which run four nights a week during school term time, cater for children - eight to 16-year-olds - and adults with severe learning difficulties, visual and physical impairment (ambulant) and wheelchair users.

Young Warriors 

The Young Warriors club runs Weekly training sessions during school term time for children aged between four and six years old. Carried out in a safe and fun environment in which the youngsters can learn, the scheme provides a direct link with pre-Academy for talented players and opportunities for participants to play at the club's Kirkby Academy base.

If you are in the UK and would like to donate to the Liverpool FC Foundation and nominated charities by text then please text YNWA15 followed by the amount you are donating to 70070. You may give £1, £2, £3, £4, £5 or £10.*

Example of text message: YNWA15 £10

You will receive a thank you text with a link to gift aid your donation. If you're not in the UK and would like to donate, please visit http://foundation.liverpoolfc.com/get-involved for information.

*Texts are free and your donation amount will be deducted from your mobile phone credit or added to your monthly phone bill. The charity will receive 100 per cent of your donation. You must be 16 or over and please ask the bill payer's permission. For full terms and conditions and more information, please visit www.justgiving.com/info/terms-of-service.