All set for NBS Bank FAM Charity Shield between Nyasa Big Bullets and Silver Strikers on Saturday

* Advance tickets are now available at various outlets in Lilongwe, Blantyre and Mzuzu

* The FAM Charity Shield is played between champions and runners-up of the TNM Super League

Maravi Express

After four exciting international matches in the 4-Nations Tournament involving Kenya, Zimbabwe, Zambia and hosts Malawi, that was won by the Harambee Stars yesterday, the football fiesta continues in Lilongwe as all is set for NBS Bank FAM Charity Shield between Nyasa Big Bullets and Silver Strikers on Saturday at Bingu National Stadium.

Advance tickets are now available with a standard ticket at K3,000  and K4,000 on Match day; VIP at K10,000 in advance and K15,000 Match Day; Corporate Box at K20,000 advance and K30,000 Match Day with a car pass at K500.

Lilongwe tickets outlets are Acres Gateway; Area 18 Puma; Area 23 Puma; Bluewaves Puma; Kafoteka; Kanengo Puma; Kawale Engen; Maula Puma; Mbowe Puma; R.K Shop; Total Walkers; NBS Bank Lilongwe Old Town Service Centre; NBS Bank City Centre Service Centre while corporate box & VIP tickets it’s Bingu National Stadium Box W26.

Blantyre outlets are at Limbe Market Total; Ndirande Engen; Blantyre Haile Selassie Total and Kameza Puma while for Mzuzu is at Katoto Puma.

The FAM Charity Shield, which kicks off every football season since 2016, is flagship corporate social responsibility (CSR) program for Football Association of Malawi (FAM) that mobilises the Beautiful Game’s fraternity and the public to raise funds and awareness towards a charitable cause of national significance.

It is played between champions and runners-up of the TNM Super League and this year’s sponsorship package was increased from K20 million to K40 million for the next three years.

Its proceeds will be channeled towards girl child education by constructing a sanitary center at a yet-to-be-identified primary school in the Central Region.

For the 2023 edition, whose proceeds were from the match between Nyasa Big Bullets and Mighty Wanderers as well as from Flames Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifier against Egypt, raised a total of K30.1 million that was used to construct four houses at a cost of K23 million for families which were left homeless due to effects of Cyclone Freddy in Ntauchira Village in Chiradzulu District.

As part of the package, FAM also presented K50,000 cash to each family and household items such as mattresses, blankets, sugar, bags of maize flour and salt worth K2 million.

In May last year, FAM and NBS Bank also made a distribution of cash worth K5.5 million to former Flames legends and other football stakeholders who were affected by Cyclone Freddy.

In 2022, FAM, NBS Bank and Malawi Red Cross Society, delivered relief food items to Cyclone Ana flood victims in Chikwawa from the K10.3 million proceeds realised from the Charity Shield.

The food items, that included maize flour, nutritious beef soya pieces and ready-mix Likuni Phala with sugar, were distributed to 986 households that represented 4,930 people, who were in four relief camps.

The tournament kicks has also reached out to Malawi Blood Transfusion Services (2016); medical equipment for Kamuzu Central Hospital (2017); Braille embosser for Ekwendeni School for the Blind and various physiotherapy and medical equipment to Kachere Rehabilitation Centre (2018).

The 2019 edition reached out to  people living with albinism under the theme ‘One Love – Stop the Killings’, which was through sponsorship from Ecobank — playing an advocacy role against all manner of barbaric acts targeting people living with albinism which reached crisis levels.

The proceeds of the Ecobank Charity Shield were used to procure a rescue vehicle which was donated to Association of People with Albinism in Malawi.

Thus the call from FAM to fans to patronise the match towards the good cause, this year for the girl-child’s academic needs and in unveiling this year’s sponsorship package, NBS Bank Chief Executive Officer, Kwanele Ngwenya said they expect another successful event to continue making a difference through charity works they have supported for the past two seasons.

“We expect good sportsmanship to entertain Malawians but most importantly, to continue making a difference through charity works,” he said. “We expect more support from clubs, players, and the public at large to fulfill our promises of reaching out to the next beneficiary.

“It’s very exciting to care for the people and we believe it’s our responsibility to take part in providing solutions to some of the problems that communities are facing.

“Last year, it was very disheartening when people lost their homes to Cyclone Freddy and when we came in, we saw how excited the victims were on the day we handled the houses to them.

“So we are also looking forward to making another huge difference this time around. As a caring bank, we promise to continue inspiring positive change in our communities through the Charity Shield,” Ngwenya said.—Additional info by Fam.mw