Several active National Football League players are coming to Bermuda as part of a new partnership aimed at improving the lives of at-risk children.

An event will be held in July as part of a new partnership between the Ministry of Community, Culture and Sports and the Ed Block Courage Award Foundation — a non-profit corporation in Maryland. The foundation raises funds for the prevention of child abuse through the Courage House National Network for Kids and its affiliation with the NFL.

Dwayne Allen, the Indianapolis Colts tight end, and Scott Wells, formerly a centre with the St Louis Rams before being released last month, are among the list of players due to visit as part of an outreach programme with residents at the Bermuda Government’s residential treatment service as well as students at TN Tatem Middle School.

As well as the outreach, the two-day event from July 12 to 14 will include a VIP reception, a golf tournament and a cruise to raise funds for RTS.

Paul Mitterweier, the director for communications for the foundation, said: “This will be a day where the NFL role models will be spending time with young people here on the Island. It is an amazing partnership to watch. Some of the players that we will be bringing down here were in similar situations growing up that some of kids here on the Island are in at this point.

“I get excited when guys like Dwayne Allen or Scott Wells tell me that yes, they want to participate here. But it’s not about the golf for them; it’s about visiting the kids and trying to make a difference for them.

“This event is not the only benefit Bermuda will see through this partnership; it’s about sustainability.”

Others expected to be in Bermuda are Brian Cushing from the Houston Texans, Morgan Cox from the Baltimore Ravens, Tyrann Mathieu from the Cardinals and Chris Kelsay from the Buffalo Bills. A full list of players will be finalised within a month.

Bermudian David Bascome helped to initiate the partnership through his influential contacts made during his time living in Baltimore as a professional footballer and assistant coach with the Baltimore Blast in the indoor leagues.

Mr Bascome hopes that Bermuda will develop a sustainable relationship with the Ed Block foundation and maximise the benefits of the Island’s affiliation with Courage House in terms of outreach and treatment of young people.

Speaking at a press conference this morning about the partnership, Community, Culture and Sports Minister Patricia Gordon-Pamplin said: “Our interests in collaborating with the Ed Block Courage Award Foundation is twofold: first, we see an alignment of objectives in terms of working to improve the lives of abused and at-risk children. In order to further this objective, we have agreed that the residential treatment services within the Department of Child and Family Services will become the first international Courage House and benefit from more networking within the Courage House National Network for Kids and also the fundraising efforts of the foundation itself.”

The Courage House Network includes 24 Courage Houses sponsored by the NFL teams across the United States.

The second reason for partnering with the foundation was because of its involvement with sports through the NFL.

Ms Gordon-Pamplin added; “Part of our ministry’s mandate is to develop sports, and the promotion of sports tourism is consistent with our national sports policy released last year. In this regard, we will explore opportunities for sports tourism, but we will also seek ways to collaborate and build on how we are using sports in Bermuda to enhance character in our youth.”

Bermuda will host the Ed Block Courage Award Founation event in July 2015 featuring several NFL players who have been awarded the Ed Block award. It aims to offer an opportunity for NFL players to engage with RTS residents as well as schoolchildren from TN Tatem Middle School.