SINGAPORE - As part of an initiative to tackle inequality and promote greater economic inclusion around the world, Standard Chartered bank has given a Liverpool jersey signed by the club's players to The Straits Times to raise funds for the ST School Pocket Money Fund.

Fans can bid for the jersey - which has a minimum bid amount of $1,000 - from Saturday (Oct 9) to 11.59pm on Oct 16.

Those interested can e-mail their bid price and contact number to emailus@spmf.org.sg.

Only the highest bidder will be contacted by the ST School Pocket Money Fund.

The auction is part of Standard Chartered's Futuremakers initiative, which supports disadvantaged young people, especially girls and people with visual impairments, to learn new skills and improve their chances of getting a job or starting their own business. The bank is a partner of the English football giants.

The ST School Pocket Money Fund's general manager Tan Bee Heong said: "This is the first time we are doing an auction of a jersey to raise funds for our beneficiaries. In this pandemic, we are seeing more students from low-income families coming to us for help .

"We hope bidders will bid generously, not only for this very valuable jersey, but to also support a good cause and help the less fortunate."

This season, Standard Chartered will also be swopping out its logo on Liverpool's jerseys for the 'Futuremakers by Standard Chartered' shirts, which the men's and women's team will wear for one game. The men's team wore these special-edition jerseys in their 2-2 draw with Manchester City on Oct 3, while the women's team will don the kit against Aston Villa next Wednesday.

These shirts will be signed by the players and have been available for fans around the world to bid on this website since Tuesday. The auction runs till Oct 24.

Donations will be matched by Standard Chartered, and all funds will be channelled to Futuremakers by Standard Chartered projects.

Senegalese forward Sadio Mane, who last month celebrated his 100 th goal for the Merseyside club, said: "My community gave me the support I needed to get where I am today, and it's important to give back and pay it forward. I hope fans will bid for our shirts and we can raise the much-needed funds for the young people in need around the world."

Between 2019 to 2020, Futuremakers has supported more than 366,000 young people across 35 markets. Standard Chartered aims to raise and donate a total of US$75 million (S$102 million) to Futuremakers from 2019 to 2023.