Football : Arsenal Players Get Creative

Arsenal Players Get Creative With Artist Gerald Scarfe In Aid Of Teenage Cancer Trust

Gael Clichy, Manuel Almunia and Robin van Persie meet world famous cartoonist to help design a unique Citroën C4

Arsenal players Gael Clichy, Manuel Almunia and Robin van Persie swapped footballs for paintbrushes when they met with world famous cartoonist Gerald Scarfe at Arsenal’s training ground earlier this month.

The unusual meeting took place so that players could share their ideas on what they would like to see on an Arsenal-themed Citroën C4 which will be designed and then raffled to raise money for Arsenal’s Charity of the Season, Teenage Cancer Trust.

The car, generously donated by Arsenal Football Club’s official car supplier, Citroën is to be personally designed by cartoonist Gerald Scarfe with the help of the Arsenal players. Gael, Robin and Manuel shared their thoughts and ideas with Gerald around Club culture, supporters and what they felt it meant to be part of the Club. Supporters can tune into a vodcast of the consultation and interview with Gerald Scarfe via Arsenal.com or iTunes from Monday 13th January.

Welcoming Gerald to the training ground Robin van Persie, whose father is an artist, said: “This is something different for us to be involved in and my ideas were very much centred around the pace of the game and the style of football Arsenal play.

“My father has been inspired in his work by the supporters and I’d like to see this reflected in Gerald’s design too. Gael and Manuel had very different ideas, so I’m looking forward to seeing how he puts all the ideas together to design this unique piece of art. I hope it inspires supporters to keep up their amazing fundraising for Teenage Cancer Trust and I hope they buy lots of tickets to try to win the car!”

Artist, Gerald Scarfe said: “Although it’s a slightly unusual project, I am used to dealing with sportsmen from a distance, but the consultation today gives me the chance to understand exactly what these guys want – I need to make their thoughts work on the car to make it an interesting vehicle for the ultimate Arsenal fan.”

Xavier Duchemin, Managing Director at Citroën UK commented “At Citroën we're delighted to be working with Arsenal and Gerald Scarfe on this project to help raise funds for such a worthwhile charity as the Teenage Cancer Trust.”

The specially designed Citroen C4 will be unveiled in February and will be on show at various locations including Emirates Stadium. Raffle tickets will be available to purchase in person at a number of outlets or via the partnership’s dedicated website www.beagoonerbeagiver.org. from March 2009.

Supporters will give input at a later date about what they would like to find inside the hatchback which can be won by buying a raffle ticket for just £2 from March 2009 with all monies going to the charity dedicated to improving the lives of teenagers with cancer.

Over the course of the season, through the ‘Be A Gooner. Be A Giver.’ campaign, the Gunners aim to raise £300,000 enabling Teenage Cancer Trust to increase its support for teenagers and young adults with cancer in the London area by building a unit within a brand new Day Care Centre at University College Hospital, London.

Arsenal is the first to commit to funding part of Teenage Cancer Trust’s unit in the Day Care Centre. The Club hopes that other organisations will follow their lead, helping the charity to raise a further £1.2million to complete the development of their unit.

The Education Zone will be a dedicated space where those being treated can keep up with their studies and also learn more about their cancer. The zone will include computers and laptops with wireless access, enabling them to contact their school, keep in touch with their friends and even join in with lessons via webcam.

For more information on the partnership or to donate visit: www.beagoonerbeagiver.org.


ABOUT GERALD SCARFE

Gerald Scarfe was born in London. He was asthmatic as a child and spent much time drawing and reading. After a brief period at the Royal College of Art in London, he established himself as a satirical cartoonist, working for Punch magazine and Private Eye during the early sixties. He has had many exhibitions worldwide, including New York, Osaka, Montreal, Los Angeles, Sydney, Melbourne, Chicago and London, and 50 one-man shows. He has designed the sets and costumes for plays, operas and musicals in London, Houston, Los Angeles and Detroit. His film work includes designing and directing the animation for Pink Floyd's The Wall. Scarfe has written and directed many live action and documentary films for BBC and Channel 4 and has published many books of his work. His latest book, Monsters is published in September 2008. Gerald Scarfe has been political cartoonist for the London Sunday Times for 40 years, and has worked for The New Yorker magazine for 14 years. His work regularly appears in many periodicals. Gerald Scarfe received a CBE in 2008.

TEENAGE CANCER TRUST

Each day in the UK, six teenagers will find out they have cancer - that is almost 2,000 new diagnoses every year. These young people often get a raw deal, receiving hospital treatment in inappropriate facilities catering for children or the elderly.
Teenage Cancer Trust focuses on the needs of teenagers and young adults with cancer by providing specialist teenage units in NHS hospitals. As well as state-of-the-art facilities to keep patients occupied during long stays in hospital, the units provide an environment where teenagers can meet others in a similar situation. To date, TCT has built nine units but we need a total of 22 to ensure that every teenager diagnosed with cancer has access to one.

TEENAGE CANCER TRUST’S UNIT WITHIN THE NEW DAY CARE CENTRE
UCLH is developing its plans for a world class cancer centre which will open in 2012. The £100m centre, which will be supported by the UCLH charitable foundation, will house outpatient and chemotherapy care for all major tumour groups and place UCLH at the forefront of cancer care in London and beyond. It will have a welcoming feel and be somewhere that patients and families feel helps them live with cancer not just somewhere they go for treatment. Patients, families and carers will be given top quality educational, social, psychological and complementary therapy support alongside clinical treatment.
The purpose of Teenage Cancer Trust’s unit within the centre at UCLH is to make treatment regimes more flexible and to provide an inspiring and relaxing place for teenagers and young adults to be treated, while keeping patients in hospital for the shortest time possible. Benefiting from the centre will be newly diagnosed patients, those who have relapsed and those who are in remission but need frequent follow up appointments.
Teenage Cancer Trust’s unit will give young patients the opportunity to meet others the same age who are going through a similar experience, enabling them to build friendships and support each other. The unit, like others built by Teenage Cancer Trust around the UK, will be designed and equipped so that teenagers can relax and feel at home in a comfortable environment.

For more information on Teenage Cancer Trust visit www.teenagecancertrust.org