Vincent Kompany has vowed to donate all money raised from his testimonial to Manchester’s homeless
Kompany joined Manchester City from Hamburg in 2008 and a special game to commemorate his decade at the club has been scheduled for August of next year.
The Belgium international has also joined forced with Andy Burnham, the Greater Manchester mayor, to launch’Tackle4MCR’, a project aimed at sparking social change in the region.
“I’ve received so much from Manchester,” the 32-year-old told the Manchester Evening News at an event to launch the campaign on Wednesday.
“Over the past decade I’ve been lucky to have witnessed and played a part in Manchester City’s rise as a club and a brand. This has also run parallel alongside the rise of a whole region.
“However, with this spectacular rise, comes a very visible downside: more and more people are left out of and have no access to the benefits of the rapid development, often leaving them no choice but to end up on the streets.”
All profits made at Kompany’s testimonial will go towards the Homelessness Fund set up by Burnham. This aims to put an end to homelessness in the city by 2020.
Burnham added: “In his famous poem, Tony Walsh told us that ‘some are born here, some drawn here, but all call it home’.
“Those words are personified by Vincent Kompany and his desire, through Tackle4MCR, to give back to this city that he now calls home.”
