Homeless World Cup 2009: UK Women Entrepreneur Penny Streeter Saves South African Team Submitted By: Rea-TMA Marketing Wednesday, 16 September 2009

Homeless World Cup 2009: UK Women Entrepreneur Penny Streeter saves South African Team Submitted by: Rea-TMA Marketing Wednesday, 16 September 2009

South Africa has won silverware at the Homeless World Cup finals in Milan, Italy, after UK Entrepreneur Penny Streeter (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penny_Streeter) OBE, once homeless herself, stepped in and paid for the team’s air travel to the event after government funding was withdrawn. The team traveled to the South African Parliament for a civic welcome today, 16 September 2009, hosted by Independent Democrats’ leader Patricia de Lille. After a tough eight days of competition, the players beat Malawi 9-1 in the final of the Milan Cup, a trophy played for by the teams ranked between 17 and 24 from the original total of 48 who took part in this years’ competition. UK entrepreneur Penny Streeter’s company Ambition 24hours, the A24 Group (http://www.a24group.co.uk/), is a major investor in South Africa. She is founder and managing director of Ambition 24hours, a medical staffing agency with a turnover of £70 million (year to June 2009), and no loans or external investors. The company opened offices in South Africa in 2004 and launched an £11 million investment programme. “ I read that funding by the City of Cape Town stopped because of huge demands on their budgets in the recession, so I felt I had to step in. Homelessness is a terrible waste of good people, usually overtaken by events with which they just can’t cope - in the UK, one in four of the homeless are ex-military. It’s a problem which should get more attention, given British involvement in Afghanistan and Iraq,” said Penny Streeter. South Africa hosted the Homeless World Cup in Cape Town 2006. The domestic league now involves 100 volunteers and activities in various communities of Cape Town and the Western Cape, focusing on education, social support and HIV awareness for street children. The league has grown to involve over 700 players in 55 teams: 50 per cent of the players are currently living on the street, a number of them are in drug rehabilitation programmes and others in institutions for street people. SAHSS (South African Homeless Street Soccer) has successfully used football to foster individual development, teach positive values and life skills, strengthen education, and prevent disease through education - particularly HIV AIDS. # Note to Editor:- Ambition 24hours, a leading UK nursing agency (http://www.ambition24hours.co.uk), was launched in the UK in 1996 and is a division of the A24 Group (http://www.a24group.co.uk/) which, with no external funding, has achieved exponential rates of growth, with turnover of £70 million in the year to 30th June 2009. The company also operates a successful locum agency (http://www.ambition24hourslocum.co.uk/), Ambition 24Locums and recently developed new divisions Nursing Services of the UK (http://www.nsofuk.com/) and Locum Services of the UK (http://www.locumservicesuk.co.uk/). The company opened in South Africa in 2004 and launched an £11 million investment programme, and now

Page 1 employs 280 staff directly at offices in Bellville and Long Street, Ca pe Town. The business set up a South African medical staffing agency (http://www.a24.co.za/) and acquired a second South African nursing agency (http://www.nurses.co.za/), Nursing Services of South Africa. Penny Streeter was awarded the OBE (Order of the British Empire) in the 2005 New Years Honours List for services to women's enterprise and business. She was CBI (Confederation of British Industry) Entrepreneur of the Year, 2003. # For further Information: Ambition 24hours, A24 Group, www.a24group.com Ambition House, 92-96 Lind Road, Sutton, SM1 4PL # Press information: [email protected] UK: 0208 870 4976 SA: 021 944 1315 ends...

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