In 2015, Reading Football Club launched a fully integrated social media/branding/press/CSR project entitled Ryan's Royals, most importantly raising awareness and funds for a local special needs academy, and strengthening the company's brand, social media presence and fulfilling our localised community strategy.
As part of our regular community work, the club encountered a young boy named Ryan Duval, who has Duchenne muscular dystrophy and attends The Avenue School Special Needs Academy in nearby Tilehurst. As part of coursework to aid his learning, Ryan was asked by his teachers to create mock designs for Reading FC shirts, and when our club captain Jem Karacan attended the school, he loved the designs so much that he asked the club to investigate whether a sample could be made.
With the help of Puma, Waitrose and Sky Bet, the club then arranged for a full set of kit to be produced, and we asked to wear it in a first team fixture with the Football League allowing this as a one-off venture.
When the story was released to the public, more than 1.5million people saw the #RyansRoyals hashtag on Twitter thanks to a club-arranged online event, with many more seeing the story through other national and international media.
Ticket prices for the game were reduced to attract as many supporters as possible, and with one of the highest attendances of the season, more than £15,000 was raised for the school to help purchase a new specially-designed vehicle for Ryan and his classmates.
Utilising the power of social media, football, and Ryan's own creativity, the project was a resounding success on every level. It was a real team effort - and most importantly a significant amount of money and awareness were raised for a very worthy cause.