Premier League chief executive explains why, as a business, it is important for the organisation to be involved in education programmes.

Football - it's a funny old game, a game of two halves and, at the end of the day, we'll take each game as it comes. All clichés I know, but examples, on a basic level, of the relationship football has always enjoyed with language.

However, the game has given a lot more to the world of literature than the football cliché and offers a wealth of reading matter and a rich literary history. This is mainly down to the fact that people find football inspiring. There is an emotional connection and commitment that has moved many to try and express their love for the game by putting pen to paper.

Conversely, football can act as a catalyst to engage people in education, community and social inclusion programmes. At the Premier League, we are in a privileged position. We have the clubs, the players, the brand and, most importantly, the wherewithal, to make a real difference.

Premier League Reading Stars is one example of what can be achieved when football works with outside agencies to help deliver their policy aims and objectives. The scheme, a Premier League partnership with the Football Foundation, the National Literacy Trust and Arts Council England, uses the power of football to get people reading and using their local libraries.

A player from each Premier League club has been nominated as a Reading Champion and selected a favourite book, either for children or adults. The 20 choices make up a family reading list with some thoughtful and surprising choices, such as Nineteen Eighty-Four and Long Walk to Freedom, and childhood classics like The BFG and The Lion, the Witch & the Wardrobe. When players like Sol Campbell, David James and Rio Ferdinand give their time and support, it goes an enormous distance to dispel the myth that people either enjoy and are good at sport or they like reading and learning.

Obviously, the Premier League and the players can't just put their names to something and sit back and watch the results roll in. It is important to keep people engaged; to continue their enjoyment and learning. Premier League Reading Stars is incentivised with player visits, stadium tours, match tickets, library activities - some even went as far as organising a penalty shoot out - and library visits by authors.

These incentives are designed to engage children, but the scheme has also encouraged adults to start reading. One mother explained how much she and her daughter had enjoyed reading on the scheme, exclaiming, "I've even been out and bought books!"

We are very proud of the fact that as well as running one of the most popular competitions in the world, we also use our brand to deliver successful education programmes, and community and social inclusion initiatives. Premier League clubs recognise the importance of developing the role they play in their local communities, and players take an enormous amount of satisfaction from playing their part, as well as acquiring some new skills of their own.

Unfortunately, newspaper headlines focus on occasional off-field incidents involving high-profile footballers, so most people never get to hear about the important community work carried out by the majority of players. Football has a proven track record in delivering successful education programmes. Playing for Success, a partnership between the Premier League and the Department for Education and Skills, uses the power of football to motivate underachieving pupils and improve their attitudes to learning.

The Football Foundation's funding of the National Literacy Trust has helped set up football-based reading schemes such as Kick into Reading, where community officers are trained to become storytellers; Charlton Athletic was one of the first clubs involved. Similar storytelling training for Academy players has since been piloted at Reading Football Club.

Football, popular and effective though it is, isn't the only sport or industry that can connect with those who are difficult to reach or switched off by traditional learning methods. Playing for Success has been rolled out across sport and many businesses are now linking up with our club Learning Centres and schools.

At the Premier League we have already seen what a difference can be made by getting involved with bodies like the National Literacy Trust and the power football has to make a difference across a range of issues. We do a lot for an organisation of our size - according to Business in the Community we are the leading corporate giver in the UK in the media, leisure and entertainment sector - but that is because we can and if you can, you should.

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