In London, Bukayo Saka’s work away from Arsenal was recognised with the Socrates Award at Monday’s Ballon d’Or ceremony, honouring the England forward’s humanitarian projects with his family and the Big Shoe foundation.
The 25-year-old has supported medical care, surgery and wider humanitarian assistance for children and families facing hardship, both in his home city and internationally. Big Shoe’s programmes focus on giving young people access to treatment and opportunities that would otherwise be beyond reach.
Saka said the work is a family effort, explaining that their aim is to help children who have not been afforded the same chances. “With Big Shoe, we try to provide medical treatment, operations and opportunities, wherever they are needed,” he said.
Support from London to disaster-hit communities
Among the initiatives backed by Saka are housing and emergency shelters for families displaced by destructive earthquakes in Turkey and Morocco. He has also helped fund life-changing operations for more than 100 children in Africa, procedures that would have been inaccessible without external support.
The Socrates Award was introduced by France Football in 2022 to acknowledge football figures whose work has made a significant contribution to solidarity and social causes.
An award with a social legacy
The prize takes its name from Sócrates, the Brazil midfielder whose role in the Corinthians Democracy movement in the early 1980s connected football with calls for an end to Brazil’s military dictatorship.
Vinicius Junior received the award in 2023 for the Instituto Vini Jr, the social project he founded and leads. Established in 2020, the institute works with public schools to use football as a tool in children’s education while helping teachers develop anti-racist teaching practices.
Saka now joins that recent line of recipients, with his recognition centred not on a match-winning moment, but on sustained help for communities far beyond the stadium.
