Ensuring the disadvantaged 'never walk alone'

"When you walk through a storm hold your head up high and don't be afraid of the dark," — the opening lines of iconic Anfield anthem You'll Never Walk Alone which never fails to send shivers down the spine as the Liverpool faithful belt out its rousing chorus before kickoff.

Besides being the perfect prematch motivator for the Reds, the song has developed a deeper meaning through the decades to become something of a hymn to the underdog and the disadvantaged.

A charity event in Beijing over the Labor Day holiday continued that lineage, with Liverpool legend John Barnes and a cast of coaches from the club's international academy linking up with the Aiyou Foundation to brighten up the lives of so-called left-behind kids — children usually from rural areas whose parents have moved away to work in cities.