Values and goals
The Musikdorf Ernen – an internationally recognised classical music festival – has already won several awards in the past. We are particularly thrilled with the 2016 Award from the Sepp Blatter Foundation because it is the first big award from the canton of Valais.
By awarding us the prize, Sepp Blatter and his foundation are expressing their connection to Goms. We would like to offer our sincere thanks to the Foundation board members for this award.
Francesco Walter, Artistic Director of the Musikdorf Ernen Festival
Anton Clausen, President of the Musikdorf Ernen Society
2016 Award: Musikdorf Ernen
The 2014 award went to the Stiftung Schloss Leuk. The Foundation accordingly paid tribute to the latter's wide range of activities while also underscoring the importance of culture, which alongside sport is one of the cornerstones of a peaceful society bound by solidarity.
Sepp Blatter, Niklaus Furger, Corinne Blatter Andenmatten and Jean-Paul Brigger presented the award at an enjoyable ceremony held at Schloss Leuk in mid-October 2015. Sepp Blatter was a co-founder of Stiftung Schloss Leuk and was pleased to look back on its extremely positive development right up to the present day. The palace, previously at risk of decay, had since been transformed into a combination of the original construction with modern elements thanks to successful and respectful renovation. World-renowned architect Mario Botta was appointed for the project.
The palace had often attracted attention with its exhibitions of international artists and exerted an appeal well beyond the canton's borders. The Spycher Literature Prize and projects in the fields of music, literature, fine arts and for children are just some examples. Like sport, culture is also capable of wielding great impact. Stiftung Schloss Leuk earned the award by illustrating this through its work.
The contribution of CHF 25,000 will now enable the foundation to carry out important projects that had been postponed. For example, a further room will be created thanks to a wooden ceiling in the tower. The Children's Culture Day can also be held again.
The 2014 award has been presented in recognition of the work of Stiftung Schloss Leuk, which would like to express its sincere thanks.
Arnold Steiner, President of Stiftung Schloss Leuk.
2014 Award: Schloss Leuk
insieme oberwallis, the biggest social institution in the canton of Valais, cares for and supports people with special requirements. In doing so, insieme oberwallis provides a wide range of services for various stages of life, including: early curative education, specialist schools, housing, jobs, activities, education and leisure activities.
As in football, working with people with special requirements is a task that a number of players have to work on together (or "insieme"). As such, donors also make a significant contribution, not only in terms of finance but also with ideas, and helpthe institution to fulfil its mandate.
insieme oberwallis would like to sincerely thank the Sepp Blatter Foundation for its help and support, and particularly for this generous 50th birthday present.
Daniel Abgottspon
2013 Award: insieme Oberwallis
On 13 April 2013 – and with great joy, gratitude and pride – Martinsheim accepted the 2012 Sepp Blatter Foundation award. It was an unforgettable day for our residents and the staff of the Martinsheim nursing home for the elderly in Visp.
In presenting us with this award, the Sepp Blatter Foundation demonstrated once again the importance it places on social commitment in Upper Valais. Sepp Blatter has created a unique foundation that connects world football with regional institutions.
Be it in the world of football or when working with the elderly, you need an inner passion in order to succeed. This can be seen in both Sepp Blatter and his foundation. I therefore hope that the Sepp Blatter Foundation will continue to operate for many years to come.
Markus Lehner
2012 Award: Martinsheim Visp
Mayor of Kippel
The municipality of Kippel is one of four municipalities in the Lötschental. It is worth paying a visit to the old part of the village with its ornamental timber facades and St. Martin's Church, which dates back to the 16th century. As the unofficial cultural capital of the Lötschental, Kippel is especially popular with all cultural enthusiasts.
Kippel and Lötschental also attach great importance to youth and sport. For example, a football club set up some years ago is successfully taking part in the BDM (Bergdorfmeisterschaft or mountain village championship). The members come from all four municipalities in the Lötschental.
The generous donation from the Sepp Blatter Foundation is making a significant contribution towards rebuilding the sporting infrastructure destroyed by storms in 2011 and therefore towards safeguarding the future of the sport in the region. Many thanks.
Mayor of Wiler
On 10 October 2011, hundreds of thousands of cubic metres of debris destroyed sections of the infrastructure in our community. It all happened within a matter of just a few hours and with incredible intensity. There were thankfully no human casualties. In addition to streets, water lines, power lines and sewage pipes, our sports ground was also affected.
It was immediately clear to us that our football pitch had to be made playable once again. Thanks amongst other things to the generous donation from the Sepp Blatter Foundation, this undertaking was financed and implemented within a very short period of time.
Many thanks to the Sepp Blatter Foundation for its uncomplicated and swift aid in support of the youth of Wiler and the Lötschental region.
Hans-Jakob Rieder
2011 Award: Community Kippel and Community Wiler
The Fux campagna residential home in Visp provides a comfortable and lively home to 21 severely physically disabled women and men who are dependent on the assistance of third parties.
The aim is to achieve the greatest possible individuality, independence and privacy.
Thanks to a donation by the Sepp Blatter Foundation, a long-held wish could be realised. The institution can now provide visitors, relatives and customers with parking spaces. We herewith extend our heartfelt thanks to the Sepp Blatter Foundation for this generous donation.
Josef Pfaffen
2010 Award: Fux campagna
Management GFM
We, over 500 young and 250 active footballers in a dozen clubs between Bitsch and Oberwald, pursue a common goal: to celebrate the beautiful game with dedication and a spirit of fun.
Around 250 football matches are played in the summer in three competitions (championship and cup). It is no wonder that football is an integral part of village life in Goms and in Östlich Raron. Young and old root for their team on the sidelines. In the local, the skilled and the less skilled yet all the more knowledgeable discuss the action from the game, their team and what might have been only for...
The enthusiasm for the games involving the junior teams is even greater. Coaches, parents and even grandparents stand on the sidelines in great numbers, cheering on the young football stars. In this small region, there are even teams with a higher proportion of girls than boys. This shows just how rooted football is in Goms and in Östlich Raron.
Some 10,000 spectators make their way to the sidelines in the course of a season. No other event mobilises so many people in this region on a regular basis.
Football is a way of life in this small but mighty community. FIFA President Sepp Blatter commented on the GFM: "It is football in its purest form. This is how football should also work in other places!"
That football works this way is not without reason – namely the broad support! We also experienced this support from the Sepp Blatter Foundation. Back in 2009, the foundation presented the Gommer Fussballmeisterschaft with a generous award, which we accepted with pride and sincere gratitude. This award shows us that football – from the regional to the international league – is of great importance to Sepp Blatter and FIFA. Thank you very much for this social commitment and this very generous donation.
President of the BDM
We were very surprised when we were nominated by the Sepp Blatter Foundation as an award winner in 2009.
Being a recipient of the Sepp Blatter Foundation award fills us with great pride and demonstrates the foundation's social and humanitarian commitment. Football is played with commitment and dedication across many levels, from the major FIFA tournaments to the regional and local leagues. The BDM is committed to ensuring that this grassroots football can be played in all mountain villages in the Upper Valais region. Football represents an important social hub for these mountain villages, providing those who live there with a meaningful leisure activity irrespective of their age and gender.
Thanks to the prize money, we were able to continue pursuing our objectives and there is hopefully nothing standing in the way of the BDM continuing to exist in the future. Despite the increasingly noticeable trend of people moving to the valley centres, the BDM is currently on a sound footing and can look to the future with confidence, thanks in no small part to the commitment of the Sepp Blatter Foundation.
Andreas Theiler
2009 Award: Gommer Fussballmeisterschaft and Bergdorfmeisterschaft
How does football differ from everyday life? In the world of football, racism and xenophobia appear not to be an issue – migration and integration are nothing out of the ordinary, they are practised each and every day and are also seen as a true enrichment.
The 2008 Sepp Blatter Foundation award is a particularly great honour for us. It shows us that the Sepp Blatter Football and Humanity Foundation stands behind our association and that we are on the right track with our work. This means a lot to us.
Mr Blatter gave our football team Zämu Gwinnu a very warm reception in Gluringen. We could feel that the individual is the most important thing to him, regardless of their nationality or origin. Many thanks for this generous moral and financial support!
Forum Migration Oberwallis
Sabine Salemink
Activity head
2008 Award: Forum Migration Oberwallis
Visp has had a football school for many years now where young footballers aged between six and eight get to experience their first proper training sessions at the Mühleye sports ground. The voluntary work of the ten coaches and the two managers Josy Schwarz and Bernhard Fallert makes it possible for the children living in Visp and the surrounding area to get to know football in a playful manner.
In this regard, the football school seeks to focus primarily on the following goals:
Football being fun
Training without pressure
Individual advancement
Improving skill with the ball
Developing strengths further and systematically working on weaknesses
The young footballers attend training once a week. They can also show off their skills and compete with other young footballers from the region at four tournament days each year. The camaraderie among the football stars of tomorrow is also strengthened at the traditional Saint Nicholas Eve event.
Thanks to the commitment of the Sepp Blatter Foundation, the training infrastructure has been systematically improved and additional essential training materials have been purchased, thus ensuring that the professional work carried out at the football school in Visp can also remain at this high level in the future.
Management FC Visp
2007 Award : Soccer School Visp
A great honour and recognition was bestowed on Behindertensport Oberwallis (BSOW):
In 2006, Behindertensport Oberwallis – an association for sport for the disabled – became the first award winner to experience the generosity of the Sepp Blatter Foundation. Foundation founder Sepp Blatter, Foundation President René Imoberdorf and members of the Board of Management Corinne Blatter Andenmatten and Jean-Paul Brigger presented Behindertensport Oberwallis with a cheque for CHF 25,000.
The aims of the foundation were realised to the full, namely supporting humanitarian projects and institutions in the canton of Valais, philanthropy and social responsibility – goals that foundation founder Sepp Blatter feels very passionately about. The winner of the award is a sports club, where sporting activity, independence and quality of life are at the core. Over the years, the BSOW has been enabling people with disabilities to achieve greater integration and recognition in society.
The donation from the Sepp Blatter Foundation is a stimulus and motivation for future sport-related projects for people with special needs. This generous gesture enabled the BSOW to set up its own football team.
Behindertensport Oberwallis (BSOW)
2006 Award: Behindertensport Oberwallis
Sepp Blatter Foundation
CH-3930 Visp
info@sb-foundation.org