Espoir Banlieues: The Foundation opens the door to young talents

Baptised “Ligne 1: gateways to excellence”, the programme will be run in three departments (Seine-Saint-Denis, Seine-et-Marne and Essonne) during its first year. It will be used to provide support to 21 young sports people aged 12 to 16 years and to 15 musicians or bands in the 16 to 25 year age group. The sponsors of “Ligne 1” is Lucie Décosse (Judo World champion) for sport and the famous opera singer Natalie Dessay.

“There are true nuggets of talent in the suburbs, stated Fadela Amara. We shall seek them out in the housing estates and we will provide them with the means to develop their talents.”  As far as Arnaud Lagardère, president of the Jean-Luc Lagardère Foundation is concerned, this access to structures for excellence constitutes a priority: “Whether we are dealing with culture or sport, this diversity lies at the very heart of our project. With Fadela Amara and her teams, we’ve decided to redefine the boundaries.”

In the field of sport, Lagardère Paris Racing and TeamLagardère will be mobilizing their teams. As far as the music side is concerned, the Foundation will be calling on the expertise of the Because Music label (contemporary music) and of the MezzoTv channel (classical music).

The Secretary of State for Urban policy will mobilize the Government’s local links and provide financial support to the mechanism as part of Espoir Banlieues initiative.

The mechanism will be assessed at the end of its first year. It may be extended to other disciplines and departments in the Paris region.

The signature of this agreement on objectives provided an opportunity for discovering the painted mural and visiting the resources centre set up with the support of the Jean-Luc Lagardère Foundation in the Boxing Beats hall, one of the Ligne 1 mechanism reference clubs.

Link to "Espoirs Banlieues"' website, click here