Matthew Spacie
Matthew Spacie | |
|---|---|
| Born | Matthew Spacie January 19, 1967 |
| Nationality | Britain, Indian |
| Alma mater | |
| Occupation(s) | Social entrepreneur, Humanitarian |
| Years active | 1986–present |
| Known for | Co-founder and executive chairman of Magic Bus |
| Board member of | DASRA |
| Spouse | Ashima Narain |
| Children | 3 |
| Website | Matthew Spacie bio at Magic Bus |
Matthew Spacie (born 19 January 1967) is a UK-based Indian entrepreneur, humanitarian, and a former international rugby player.[1] Matthew is the co-founder of Cleartrip,[2] a global online travel company.[3] He is also the former chief operating officer (COO) of the travel group, Cox & Kings Ltd.[4] He is the founder of Magic Bus[5] (also known as the Magic Bus India Foundation), a non-governmental organisation working with children and youth taking them from childhood to livelihood.[6][3][7] He has received several national and international awards for his many work achievements. He has been awarded the Member of the British Empire (MBE) in 2007[8] and Business Standard Social Entrepreneur of the Year in 2018.[1]
Career
Matthew is a citizen of the United Kingdom and currently lives in Mumbai, India with his family.[9] He completed his graduation and a number of management positions in the United Kingdom. Matthew first came to India at the age of 19. He spent time as a volunteer with Mother Teresa's organisation, Missionaries of Charity in Kolkata when he was just out of school.[8][4]
Matthew returned to the UK, to complete his graduation from the Nottingham Trent University and New York State University in BA Humanities. Following his graduation and a number of management positions in the UK, Matthew was posted to India ten years later at the age of 29, as the Chief Operating Officer of the travel group Cox & Kings Ltd.[8] During his time at Cox & Kings, Matthew played rugby for the Indian national team.[4] Outside his local rugby club, the Bombay Gymkhana he would often chat with street-dwelling children who would watch training sessions and the team practice. Given the impact sport had on his life he felt this was something he could provide, so he invited them into the club to learn rugby.[10][11][12]
In 1999, Matthew founded Magic Bus with a group of street and slum-dwelling children from Mumbai.[2] It was an opportunity for these children to engage in sports as a momentary relief from their day-to-day challenges. In 2001, Matthew resigned his job at Cox & Kings to focus full time on Magic Bus.[7] He teamed up with an NGO named Akanksha with the intention of providing children a weekend break away from the difficulties of their everyday lives. Every fortnight he hired a bus taking the rugby boys to mentor younger children from local NGOs, to a hill station or the beach.[10] The children started calling this the Magic Bus. At an early stage Matthew saw that using sport and good local mentors to intervene and influence young vulnerable people was an effective way to change behavior and move people from poverty. They are now recognized as one of the most impactful in the development sector.[11]
Today Magic Bus is one of the largest non profits in India leading the fight against poverty.[9] Matthew’s vision has seen Magic Bus go from one milestone to another with more than one million children being impacted by the 7-year long childhood to livelihood programme.[12][4][7]
In 2006, he co-founded Cleartrip which is an online travel company rendering services across the globe.[13][2]
Matthew was on the Global Advisory Boards of Etihad Airlines and currently sits on the board of DASRA.[14]
Awards and achievements
- 2001: Awarded international rugby caps for India and playing in the World Cup Qualifiers.
- 2002: Elected to the Ashoka Fellowship.[15]
- 2007: Awarded the Member of the British Empire (MBE) by the Queen of England for services to children in the Commonwealth.[8]
- 2013: Appointed as an Asia Centre for Social Entrepreneurship and Philanthropy (ACSEP) Fellow from the National University of Singapore[16]
- 2014: His organisation’s Magic Bus has been recognized at the Laureus World Sports Awards.[9][6]
- 2014: Magic Bus India won the President’s Rashtriya Khel Protsahan award for promotion and development of Sports.[6]
- 2015: Matthew was awarded Beyond Sport Leadership Award.[17]
- 2016: His organization Magic Bus won Charity of the year award at the Asian Voice Charity Awards, UK.[18]
- 2016: Magic Bus won UEFA Foundation for Children Award.[19]
- 2017: Magic Bus won the Sports Illustrated, Special Award for Services to Sports Award.[20]
- 2018: Recognized as India’s Top educational influencers by Scoo News.[7]
- 2018: Won the Business Standard Social Entrepreneur of the year.[1]
Personal life
Matthew is married to Ashima Narain with three children.[21][22] Matthew met Ashima in Mumbai. Ashima is a wildlife photographer and documentary filmmaker.[14][23] She has shot documentary films titled The Last Dance and In the Pink.[24][25]
See also
References
- ^ a b c "Business Standard CSR awards 2017: Power-packed jury picks best three". Business Standard. 20 March 2019.
- ^ a b c Ramanathan, Arundhati (15 September 2015). "Magic Bus builds on Indian model to become a global NGO". Mint (newspaper).
- ^ a b Goyal, Malini (25 August 2013). "Matthew Spacie's Magic Bus uses sports-based activities to transform underprivileged children's lives". The Economic Times.
- ^ a b c d "Matthew Spacie - Founder and Executive Chairman of Magic Bus". IUE Magazine.
- ^ "Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Assam, Magic Bus and Nestlé India commemorate World Health Day in Guwahati". The Dairy Times. 7 April 2018.
- ^ a b c "Hop onto a magic bus this marathon". Daily News and Analysis.
- ^ a b c d "Being the founder and Executive chairmen of Magic Bus". issuu.
- ^ a b c d "Magic Bus chairman gets 'Member of British Empire'". The Economic Times. 21 January 2007.
- ^ a b c "Indian NGO Magic Bus gets recognition at Laureus awards". The Times of India. 27 March 2014.
- ^ a b Kapadia, Payal (17 July 2006). "Air-Conditioned Gypsy On His Magic Caravan". Outlook (Indian magazine).
- ^ a b "'We often take it for granted in this country what a wonderful opportunity playing a team sport like rugby is'". The Daily Telegraph. 28 October 2015.
- ^ a b "Wheels of change: Magic Bus is helping the youth break the cycle of poverty through skills training". Dailyhunt.
- ^ "Crystal clear: Using design as a differentiator in a crowded market". NDTV. March 10, 2014.
- ^ a b Jenkins, Cordelia (14 March 2013). "Magic Bus: Reaching out to slums with sport". Mint (newspaper).
- ^ "Matthew Spacie (Ashoka Fellowship)". Ashoka.org.
- ^ "Asia Centre for Social Entrepreneurship & Philanthropy (ACSEP)". National University of Singapore.
- ^ "Beyond Sport Awards 2015 winners announced". Sport and Dev. 20 October 2015.
- ^ "Asian Voice Charity Awards powered by Charity Clarity winners". Asian Voice charity Awards.
- ^ "2016 UEFA Foundation for Children Awards". UEFA Foundation.
- ^ "Sindhu Wins Magic Bus & Sports Illustrated Award". Indian Television. 7 July 2017.
- ^ "Family Function". Mumbai Mirror. 16 August 2017.
- ^ Narain, Ashima (14 May 2018). ""Visiting grandparents is a journey into an everexpanding shared history"". PressReader.
- ^ "Prestigious recognition". Mid Day. 10 March 2017.
- ^ Kannadasan, Akila (21 March 2013). "Through the lens, softly". The Hindu.
- ^ Ganguly, Nivedita (17 January 2015). "'In the pink' of documenting life". The Hindu.