Score without Barriers

Location and general information

Closed
Location Ukraine
Start date 03/01/2022
End date 12/31/2022
Cost of the project €43,124
Foundation funding €35,640
Project identifier 20210735
Partners Shakhtar Social
Categories Access to Sport - Children with disabilities - Personal development

Context

According to the Ukrainian ministry of youth and sports research, only 6,000 children with disabilities were involved in sports in 2019, i.e. only 3.7% of the disabled children registered by the Ukrainian state statistics committee in that year. This compares to almost one-third in the UK (My Active Future: Including every child, 2020).

Project content

Score without barriers is a football project to promote social cohesion, teach coaches about social inclusion in sports, provide equal opportunities for disabled children to play football, improve sports access and boost extracurricular education. The 180 children will take part in free football sessions and masterclasses delivered by FC Shakhtar players or coaches in six cities in Ukraine, including two frontline locations in eastern Ukraine.

Objectives

The project aims to improve access to sports, football in particular, for 180 children with disabilities, teach 50 coaches about disability sports, promote social inclusion and children's rights. Specific free football sessions and masterclasses will be delivered by Shakhtar Social’s coaches and FC Shakhtar players or coaches annually for 180 children.

Project activities

The programme will include three major activities:

  • Training in disability football for 50 grassroots coaches from various regions of Ukraine, including Shakhtar Social’s The training will be conducted over three days at the FC Shakhtar Academy near Kyiv. The local expert in grassroots football and ‘disability football’ will deliver the sessions, which will cover a few major topics: grassroots football, inclusive football sessions, football children with disabilities, tolerance and respect in grassroots football (approaches preventing violence and bullying).
  • Free football sessions of the Score without Barriers project that will be run twice a week by a coach and two volunteers at six locations in Ukraine: Chervonohrad (west), Mykolaiv and Kherson (south), Zaporizhzhia, Popasna and Pokrovsk (east). The coach will train 30 children per location including at least 10% girls. The disabled children will have an adapted programme and be provided with the necessary equipment. Each one-hour football session includes physical exercises, fun games, educational personal training and a football game.
  • Six football masterclasses delivered by FC Shakhtar representatives, in which one of the FC Shakhtar representatives (first-team player or academy player or coach) will visit each location to teach children basic football skills and take part in the fun games over the two hours of the event. The children will have an opportunity to interact with the players and receive signatures and club presents. The masterclasses are intended to enhance the impact of the project, give the children an opportunity to interact with FC Shakhtar football players and create cohesion among the participants.

Expected results

Short-term results

  • Participation rate (70%): 126 children involved in sessions over a three-month period, with at least 10% girls
  • Conducted educational training and the coaches use gained knowledge

Long-term results

 Participation rate (100%): 180 children involved in sessions, with at least 10% girls

  • Improved mental health and well-being of participants
  • The coaches conduct regular disability football sessions

Partner

Cruyff Court Velsen, Netherlands

Location and general information

Ongoing
Location Velsen, Pays-Bas
Start date 02/01/2022
End date 12/31/2022
Cost of the project €276,812
Foundation funding €199,312
Project identifier 202110435
Partners Cruyff Foundation
Categories Access to Sport - Gender Equality - Infrastructure and equipment - Personal development

Context

Velsen-Noord is a community of just over 5,000 people, 30% of whom are under the age of 25. About 40% of the community are of non-Dutch heritage and the overall educational level is low. Velsen-Noord is also one of the poorest and most vulnerable in the region. Boredom causes antisocial behaviour and there has been a rise in crime over the past three years amid growing polarisation. There are few safe spaces to play sport.

Project content

A Cruyff Court will be built as a safe space for young people to play sports.

Objectives

  • Building a safe place for youngsters to come together and play sports, in particular football
  • Creating a group of local stakeholders that use sport as a way to help local youngsters develop, increasing the impact that sport has on them
  • Educate local coaches with the philosophy and vision of the Cruyff Foundation
  • Engage and develop young people in the community through organised activities

Project activities

  • Create a social agreement with local stakeholders, defining goals, allocating tasks and committing stakeholders to the project for the long term, over a ten-year period
  • Stichting SportSupport Kennemerland will organise various activities on the pitch per week for 6–12 year-olds .Welzijn Velsen will organise activities and programmes for boys and girls 13–23 years old
  • Heroes of the Cruyff Courts act as role models and organise at least one major event per year, teaching the youngsters all the skills they need
  • Train two local coaches

Expected results

  • Over 300 active children a week take part in sports and cultural activities on the court
  • 2 new Cruyff Foundation coaches in the municipality who will run projects in their neighbourhood and on the Cruyff Court
  • Increase liveability through better sports facilities in the community
  • Develop youngsters’ personal and sports skills through sports programmes
  • Increase the number of children that play sports and increase the amount of sport they play
  • Reduce polarisation by connecting youth from different cultural backgrounds

Partner

Community Champions

Location and general information

Ongoing
Location Hungary, Greece, The Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Ukraine and United-Kingdom
Start date 01/01/2022
End date 06/30/2024
Cost of the project €389,380
Foundation funding €200,000
Project identifier 20211049
Partners EFDN
Categories Access to Sport - Children with disabilities - Conflict victims - Environmental protection - Gender Equality - Personal development

Context

Creating opportunities for youth to participate in safe and structured activities is a vital part of their development and the need is growing. With the aim of promoting social integration through sport, Community Champions provides the opportunity for people from different cultures to come together to build relationships and friendships while breaking down barriers through the prevention of violence, racism and intolerance in grassroots sports and their communities.

Project content

Community Champions (CC) is a social street football competition for young people aged 7 to 15 years old, organized locally across Europe. The project includes two seasons, with 12 teams in each community playing 10 games per season. Emphasis is placed on the attitudes and behaviours of the participants, more than on their footballing ability. Teams can win two-thirds of their points through Fair-Play, by completing social action projects in their communities or attending workshops.

Objectives

  • Tackle racism, discrimination and violence in sport
  • Social inclusion in and through sport
  • Promote social cohesion through sport
  • Promote active citizenship
  • Promote voluntary activity in sport
  • Promote positive involvement of parents and neighbours
  • Social inclusion and acceptance of refugees and migrants
  • Enhance social and bridging capital of participants
  • Reduction small street crime
  • Teaching valuable life skills
  • Promote healthy lifestyle

Project activities

  • 12 teams in each community per year, consisting of boys and girls, with and without a disability and from different backgrounds.
  • Teams play 10 games per season.
  • Teams will attend at least 3 workshops on racism and discrimination, fair play, and healthy lifestyles.
  • 2 Kick-off events at the beginning of each season per project partner
  • 2 Final events at the end of each season per project partner
  • Training sessions before each season
  • Teams complete regular community volunteering work.
  • The winner at the end of the season is the team that has the most points (Fair-Play, Fair Support and Volunteering in community activities points and football games points combined

Expected results

  • 8 delivering clubs.
  • 2400 participants.
  • 8 cities in 7 European countries.
  • 400 social action projects delivered in the community.
  • 216 educational workshops delivered.
  • 1440 street football matches.
  • 16 Local CC Kick-Off events.
  • 16 Local CC Finals.
  • 2 International project meetings and staff learning events.
  • 1 EFDN Conference presentation to over 200 CSR Experts.
  • 1 Project Plan
  • 1 Best Practice Handbook
  • 1 Practitioner's Guide
  • 1 Community Champions toolkit, training resources and dissemination pack
  • 1 Performance and Management Plan
  • 1 Communication and Dissemination Plan
  • 2 Interim Reports
  • 1 Final Report

Partner

Together is ok!

Location and general information

Terminé
Location Bosniaand Herzegovina
Start date 02/01/2022
End date 12/31/2022
Cost of the project €46,000
Foundation funding €35,100
Project identifier 20210180
Partners Football Friends
Categories Access to Sport - Gender Equality - Personal development

Context

The main criteria for our target groups: economically underdeveloped neighbourhoods where there are ethnic tensions and greater levels of aggression. The main criteria for the individual participants: social and economic hardships.

Project content

Football Friends – Together is ok! is for children up to the age of 14 and uses the football3 philosophy of mixing genders and ethnicities, ultimately to form teams comprising children from both cities. The activities promote peace-building and tolerance. Teams will be put together during the week in the Viber group chat, with the agreement of the participants, in preparation for games at the weekends. The stated aim is to form mixed teams, half from Foča and half from Goražde.

Objectives

  • Promote national, ethnical tolerance and cohabitation
  • Use football as the main tool of social development to prevent conflict and promote long-lasting peace
  • Promote girls’ participation in football to alter stereotypes and social roles
  • Empower young people from disadvantaged communities to use football as a tool for progress

Project activities

  • 2 months – Preparation stage and warm-up – first meeting of participants, ice-breaking and getting to know each other, learning about our organisation and best practices
  • 8 months – Football tournaments in Foča and Goražde – two per month
  • 8 months – Workshops, lectures, party

Expected results

  • 1,400 indirect beneficiaries
  • 80 direct beneficiaries
  • 50/50% female/male participants
  • 12–14: average age range of participants
  • Prevention of conflict and the promotion of long-lasting peace
  • Improved relationship between different ethnic groups
  • Altered stereotypes and social roles
  • Greater participation of girls in all football activities

Partner

Fitba First

Location and general information

Terminé
Location Scotland
Start date 01/03/2022
End date 12/31/2022
Cost of the project €59,149
Foundation funding €47,461
Project identifier 20210327
Partners The Scottish Football Partnership Trust
Categories Access to Sport - Children with disabilities - Personal development

Context

The Fitba First project invests in young, vulnerable primary schoolchildren living in poverty across deprived areas of Scotland. It aims to maximise their future prospects for health and well-being by providing free-to-access fun football activities, health education and hot, healthy meals.

 

Project content

This project aims to invest in 600 young primary school children all across Scotland to help maximise their future health and well-being by providing fun, free-to-access football activities, positive nutritional messages, healthy meals (breakfast and lunch) and bespoke training in sports first aid.

Objectives

To provide 600 young primary school children with opportunities to take part in the following free activities during school holiday periods:

Football

  • Free activities help reduce the financial barriers facing many children in Scotland. The project aims to use the positive medium of football to create a sense of inclusion at the same time as improving the participants' physical and mental well-being.

 

Sports first-aid training

  • Educating children through sport. Increasing knowledge and understanding. Increasing confidence. Developing life-saving skills. Safer sport/safer communities.
  • What to do in an emergency. How to call an ambulance. Chest compressions. Using a defibrillator.
  • What do to if someone chokes. What to do is someone’s bleeding. When and how to use ice on injuries. How to help someone having an asthma attack.

 

Meals and positive nutritional messages

  • Tackling food inequalities during school holidays with the provision of free healthy breakfasts and lunches, while sending positive nutritional messages about leading a healthy and balanced lifestyle.

Project activities

Hour 1 - Football and fitness session

Session structure:

  • Structured warm-ups and cool-downs
  • Weekly football themes – passing, dribbling, technique and control, shooting, defending and football agility
  • Fun game-related activities
  • Team-building and problem-solving activities focusing on improving confidence, communication, team-work, decision-making, respect for others and developing participants’ cognitive skills
  • Small-sided games – fun and competitive play and freedom of expression

 

Hour 2 – Positive nutritional messages and healthy, hot, homemade meal

Session structure:

  • The Eatwell Guide
  • Food groups and their purpose
  • Water and hydration
  • Energy values
  • Healthy cooked meal
  • Personal hygiene – washing hands and table manners

Expected results

  • Provide opportunities for 600 young disadvantaged children to take part in the Fitba Firs project, helping them to become happier, healthier and more engaged through the delivery of 9,600 individual hours of football activity and health education
  • Encouraging and enabling the inactive to be active
  • Developing physical confidence and competence from the earliest age
  • Improving opportunities to participate, progress and achieve in sport
  • Supporting the well-being and resilience of communities through physical activity and sport
  • Tackling food inequality

Partner

Miracoli Football Club

Location and general information

Ongoing
Location Rome, Italy
Start date 06/01/2022
End date 06/30/2023
Cost of the project €120,100
Foundation funding €100,100
Project identifier 20210871
Partners Calciosociale
Categories Access to Sport - Gender Equality - Personal development

Context

The Rome suburb of Corviale is characterised by the largest social housing complex, designed in the 1970s and known as ‘Serpentone’: a one-kilometre-long apartments block that is home to more than 5000 people.

Young people living in Corviale lack prospects and are highly exposed to negative life examples. This difficult context means that new ways continuously need to be found to engage them and convince them to pursue a socio-educational path. The most obvious problems are the illegal occupation of hundreds of apartments, financial issues, degradation and high rates of illiteracy and unemployment.

Project content

The Miracoli FC project aims to set up the first mixed-gender football school in Corviale based on Calciosociale® principles and values.

Miracoli FC is a revolutionary football school whose players can lay the foundations not only for solid athletic training (basic playing techniques and movement coordination) but also an education. Once a week, the children also take part in a social football tournament.

Calciosociale comprises an innovative sporting and educational methodology that totally rewrites the rules of football to enable players to develop soft skills and civic skills. Football pitches become places where those who might be perceived as ‘different’ are completely integrated. The project activities use social development as a powerful tool to promote universal human values: sociability, sharing, cooperation, respect, acceptance and acknowledgment of diversity, peace, psychological welfare, quality communication and empathy.

Objectives

  • Fostering access to sport for boys and girls facing social difficulties;
  • Fostering inclusion and reducing discrimination through football;
  • Promoting and developing emotional skills and positive social attitudes among young people in Corviale who might be drawn to antisocial behaviour and risk social exclusion.

Project activities

Monitoring

Within the organisation, a dedicated team handles the project: a project manager, educators, coaches, psychologists, and nutritionists. Regular meetings are held to follow up on progress. Before and after the project, the youngsters complete assessment tests along with short video interviews that use emotion detection system to provide both an objective and a subjective evaluation.

Football

Practice sessions are held twice a week, coordinated by expert coaches, educators, psychologists, and nutritionists. Once a week, a social football tournament is held with the Calciosociale rules.

Every year, the tournament has a specific theme that enhances the educational value of the project. The chosen topic inspires the names of the teams. For example, topics related to legality and inclusion (the articles of the Italian Constitution, role models), words that have a strong meaning for the youngsters (such as friendship, courage, union, etc.).

This year, the topic was environmental protection and the youngsters chose the names of women and men who fought for this cause. Some of the off-the-pitch activities were also based on this topic.

Expected results

  • Networking: Local associations and institutions jointly decide what activities are to be carried out off the pitch throughout the year;
  • Active change: Football helps participants become change makers;
  • Promotion of the suburbs: Activities enable Corviale to open up to the rest of the city;
  • Self-confidence: Working towards a common goal (on and off the pitch) and seeing the results improves youngsters’ self-confidence and their sense of empowerment;
  • Reduction in prejudice: Playing in a team alongside people who have a different ethnic, social or religious background or with a disability will help youngsters to overcome stereotypes;
  • Social and civic awareness;
  • Reduced anxiety.

Partner

Path of a Champion

Location and general information

Ongoing
Location Serbia
Start date 02/01/2022
End date 02/01/2023
Cost of the project €90,000
Foundation funding €30,000
Project identifier 20210486
Partners Novak Djokovic Foundation
Categories Access to Sport - Personal development

Context

The role of parents in sports is more important than ever, especially in children’s early years. The Path of a Champion project aims to give parents the education and knowledge they need to provide much-needed support to their children. It will teach parents about the benefits of sport for their children as well as the potential challenges. Studies have shown that 46% of children give up sport by the age of 14 due to stress or pressure from parents to compete.

Project content

The project aims to create a happier and healthier sports environment for children by educating and supporting parents.

Objectives

  • Improving parents’ knowledge of sport in general
  • Improving parents’ self-regulation skills in the sports environment
  • Improving parents’ ability to motivate their children to start and continue to play sports
  • Educating parents on how to choose a fun and happy sports environment for their children

Project activities

  • Interactive workshops for parents with videos of athletes, their parents and their coaches sharing their experiences and the challenges they faced
  • Online panel discussions and lectures featuring guest speakers, with a live Q&A session for parents

Expected results

  • Improving parents’ knowledge and awareness of the importance of sport for their children’s development and growth
  • Making the sports environment healthier and happier for children, and encouraging more children to get involved in sport

Partner

Goals

Location and general information

Ongoing
Location Leicester, UK
Start date 12/01/2021
End date 12/01/2023
Cost of the project €113,907
Foundation funding €100,000
Project identifier 20210524
Partners Leicester City in the Community
Categories Access to Sport - Personal development

Context

Young people faced with inequalities are held back in their personal development and access to community sport and broader opportunities, all of which have been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite this, there is a lack of tailored, suitable support to help them overcome these challenges, putting them at risk of exclusion from education and community sports services.

Project content

Providing young people at risk of exclusion who face inequalities with tailored development opportunities in a 12-week alternative education programme. This programme will not only use football to develop their personal and life skills, such as confidence, aspirations and resilience but also provide them with leadership skills and accredited qualifications that will help them progress onto volunteering and young leader roles.

Objectives

Deliver three 12-week alternative education programmes, incorporating six weeks of life skills through football and a six-week leadership course.

Tailored provision will utilise sport to stimulate personal development and inspire engagement. Each session will include football activities and workshops that cover teamwork, confidence, resilience and self-esteem, and each participant will complete ASDAN and/or PlayMakers qualifications and be provided with young-leader and volunteer opportunities.

Project activities

  • Alternative education – 12-week programme engaging young people at risk of exclusion from education (six-week leadership course and six-week life skills workshops)
  • Social action – young people have the opportunity to improve issues that are important to them and their community
  • Football tournaments – young people have the opportunity to organise a local football tournament to positively engage their peers
  • Young leader and volunteer roles – young people have the opportunity to take ownership of the project by taking on young leader and volunteer roles, helping them to further their development and broaden their opportunities

Expected results

  • 50% of participants rate improvements in their confidence
  • 80% of participants complete at least one formal qualification
  • At least 10 young people progress to young leader and volunteer roles

Partner

Scoring Girls

Location and general information

Terminé
Location Germany and Iraq
Start date 01/01/2022
End date 12/31/2022
Cost of the project €275,000
Foundation funding €136,000
Project identifier 20210550
Partners Háwar Help
Categories Access to Sport - Conflict victims - Gender Equality - Personal development

Context

Nowadays, more people have been displaced from their homes than at any time since World War II. In Germany, roughly 1.4 million people live as refugees. In post-conflict Iraq, about 1.2 million people live as internally displaced persons (IDP).

In Iraq, the Scoring Girls live in an IDP camp outside of Dohuk, home to 15,000 people. Most belong to the Yazidi minority group from the Ninawa governate, a region in the north-west that was overrun and largely destroyed by ISIS in 2014, causing hundreds of thousands of people to flee. Many of the project’s beneficiaries have been living in the camp for over five years.

In Germany, the Scoring Girls come from more than ten countries. Many of the girls underwent treacherous journeys to get to Europe. Despite living in Germany for over five years, many are still in refugee shelters on the outskirts of Berlin and Cologne.

Project content

The Scoring Girls projects offer girls in Germany and Iraq  the chance to identify their strengths and passions and build up enough self-confidence to realise their dreams in life, regardless of their background, socio-economic status or faith. Through team sports, school and homework help, career guidance and the involvement of strong female role models, project participants learn to treat each other with respect and believe in themselves.

 

Objectives

  • Empower refugee and IDP girls to integrate into their host societies through soft-skill development and new knowledge
  • Support the development of a strong, inclusive community by strengthening social cohesion and improving access to community services for refugees and their families
  • Promote direct engagement and mutual understanding between refugee and IDP girls and the host communities in Germany and Iraq
  • Raise awareness of the potential of sport as a tool to empower and integrate refugee girls

Project activities

Weekly empowerment programme: recruitment and relationship building

  • Weekly football-based soft-skills programme
  • Empowerment dialogues with role models

Community-building programme

  • Scoring Girls yearbook with Iraqi and German participants
  • Group excursions in the community
  • Family engagement events and trainings
  • Friendly matches

Dissemination of impact

  • Capacity-building between the Scoring Girls teams in Iraq and Germany
  • Press work and dissemination

Expected results

  • 150 girls (refugees, IDPs and from the host community) have improved soft-skills such as self-confidence, teamwork and resilience
  • Cohesive communities of girls with diverse backgrounds are created in five locations
  • 300 family members actively support the girls’ participation
  • 40 multipliers gain insights into how to use sport to promote integration in Iraq and Germany
  • 100,000 people learn about the power of sport to build cohesive communities and empower girls

Partner

Football for Unity

Location and general information

Terminé
Location Ireland, Dublin
Start date 01/01/2022
End date 12/31/2022
Cost of the project €60,000
Foundation funding €45,000
Project identifier 20210976
Partners Sport Against Racism Ireland (SARI)
Categories Access to Sport - Conflict victims - Gender Equality - Personal development

Context

The North East Inner City of Dublin (pop. 20,000) suffers from high levels of deprivation, poverty and disadvantage with high concentrations of:

  • Single parents: 80% in some areas
  • Unemployment: approx. 50% men and 40% women (national average: 13%)
  • Low educational attainment: 50% aged 15+ only have primary-school education (national average: 9%)
  • High levels of crime and substance abuse

This is also the area of Ireland with the highest percentage of ethnic minorities.

Project content

Based on the success of the Football for Unity tournaments run in the North East Inner City of Dublin during June and July 2021 alongside EURO 2020 with the support of the European Commission and the UEFA Foundation for Children, the project runs three months of training nights to build capacity in the community followed by a number of seven-a-side tournaments in a range of age categories. The aim is to encourage participation in football, the inclusion of third-country nationals and youth empowerment.

Objectives

  • Increase mutual understanding between children and young people from diverse ethnic backgrounds, helping migrants and third country nationals to integrate into Irish society
  • Combat racism and xenophobia
  • Creating safe spaces for youngsters to play football
  • Promote the involvement of migrants in sport and volunteering
  • Youth empowerment through sport
  • Create more cohesion between young people, community groups, police and local authorities

Project activities

  • March, April and May: weekly football training sessions for boys and girls aged 12–18, including refugees, asylum-seekers, Travellers and Roma
  • Actively supporting community groups and individuals for the creation of football teams to play in the Football for Unity tournaments
  • June–July: football tournaments for boys and girls – both youth and children – in various age groups held at four artificial turf pitches
  • Support young people to encourage them to take their coaching badges

Expected results

  • 400 participants both male and female in various age groups
  • Integration of third country nationals and migrants, with approx. 150 participants
  • Participation of minimum 120 girls and young women
  • Increased participation in playing football
  • 20 young people attain their PDP1 coaching badge

Partner

Football for social cohesion and regional cooperation

Location and general information

Ongoing
Location Monténégro
Start date 01/01/2022
End date 12/31/2022
Cost of the project €64,705
Foundation funding €39,605
Project identifier 20210919
Partners FK Breznica
Categories Access to Sport - Children with disabilities - Gender Equality - Personal development

Context

Social exclusion and marginalisation can be a problem for children and young people in northern Montenegro, depending on their social and economic background. This is especially true for girls, children with special needs and Roma children, many of whom lack opportunities for enriching educational and leisure activities, which in turn hinders their development. The COVID-19 pandemic, political tensions and migration crises have exacerbated these problems. Thanks to its popularity, football offers opportunities to develop social cohesion and educate through play.

Project content

FK Breznica’s goal is to use sport as platform for social inclusion, women’s empowerment and regional reconciliation. Coaches and youth leaders from Montenegro and neighbouring Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia will be trained to use football as a tool to engage kids in inclusive educational and developmental activities. They will then organise inclusive in-country and cross-border activities involving Roma, migrant children and children with special needs.

Objectives

  • Educate coaches and youth leaders to use football as a tool for inclusive education and development
  • Use a ‘train the trainer’ approach to ensure the benefits are multiplied and sustainable
  • Promote gender equality and equal participation of boys and girls
  • Promote social cohesion through inclusive and integrated educational and sports activities involving
  • Roma, migrant children and young people with special needs
  • Promote regional reconciliation through joint cross-border activities

Project activities

  • Training in Football3 methodology and football for good for coaches and youth leaders
  • Monthly inclusive and integrated educational and sports activities
  • Two Football3 festivals
  • Friendship tournament in Pljevlja to celebrate International Migrants Day, involving
  • migrants, Roma and children with special needs from Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia
  • Translation of Football3 manuals into Montenegrin
  • Quarterly project support and monitoring of online sessions with the Czech Association for Voluntary Activities INEX-SDA

Expected results

  • 30 football coaches and youth leaders educated and their professional skills increased
  • 150 coaches given informal training
  • Up to 5,400 youngsters involved in project activities and their social skills increased
  • More girls involved in sports activities
  • More children with disabilities and special needs involved in social activities
  • Migrant and Roma children included in activities
  • Football3 manuals published in Montenegrin

Partner

Football for Kids – the ball is spinning for everyone!

Location and general information

Terminé
Location Switzerland
Start date 01/01/2022
End date 12/31/2022
Cost of the project €41,500
Foundation funding €18,500
Project identifier 20210333
Partners PluSport
Categories Access to Sport - Children with disabilities - Personal development

Context

Over the past 10 years, Football for Kids programme from PluSport has been establishing football as a sport for everyone. Weekly training sessions and competitive tournaments run by many programmes all over Switzerland meet the high demand and enable children and young people to practise their favourite sport. Roughly 100 children with various kinds of disabilities presently enjoy football and new teams are being set up all the time.

To finance the programme, we rely heavily on support from local partners, sponsors and donors. A key project partner for many years withdrew its support at the end of 2021, putting the programme in jeopardy. The financial support of the UEFA Foundation secures the future of the football activities for kids and youngsters.

Project content

Football for Kids offers weekly training sessions and competitive tournaments for children with disabilities through several programmes all over Switzerland. It positions football as a sport for everyone, but it does more than that: it provides children with an opportunity to enjoy the camaraderie and emotions of a team sport, fosters inclusion, provides both physical and mental benefits as well as a sense of accomplishment. It builds social bridges and provides everyone involved with a sense of respect and admiration for each other and the game of football.

Objectives

General objectives (2022–24)

  • Ensure exercise through sport (especially football) for children and young people with disabilities
  • Systematically promote and develop football as a sport of inclusion
  • Facilitate access for children and young people with disabilities
  • Expand the number of participating children and young people (+20 new children)
  • Increase the proportion of girls taking part in this sport
  • Secure enough financing to ensure the continuation of the football programme, especially the weekly training sessions and the tournaments

Project activities

Football is the world’s most popular sport, including among people with disabilities. Almost all youngsters want to play football. Promoting football and ball sports in general as integrative disciplines is of major importance to PluSport : they bring joy and team spirit to the lives of young athletes together with essential qualities that also help children with a disability to progress in their daily lives. Over the past few years, the development of disability football has been in full swing. What started with the promotion and integration of children and young people with disabilities in a youth development project has continued successfully with the creation of football teams and regular tournaments for all age groups and all kinds of disabilities.

  • Regular weekly training sessions held throughout Switzerland
  • Four or five tournaments per year
  • Opportunity for trial training sessions
  • Programme promotion through PluSport’s communication channels and network

Expected results

  • Expand the number of children and young people taking part (+20 new children)
  • Set up or expand football teams for children and young people
  • Increase the number of girls taking part (+5)
  • Expand the number of annual tournaments to at least five a year

Partner

Learn&Play – Equal educational and sports opportunities for all children!

Location and general information

Terminé
Location Montenegro
Start date 02/01/2022
End date 05/31/2022
Cost of the project €78,180
Foundation funding €59,180
Project identifier 20210481
Partners NGO Parents
Categories Access to Sport - Gender Equality - Infrastructure and equipment - Personal development

Context

Although they are enrolled in school, vulnerable children often do not attend regularly, and often drop out at an early age due to difficulties fulfilling basic needs (food, shelter).

  • Only 7 % of them continue to high school (source: UNICEF). After primary school, girls often get married (aged 14–15) and boys start to work on the street collecting raw materials.
  • Most are victims of discrimination, rejected by their peers and socially very isolated.
  • Alcohol, deviant behaviour, and violence are often present in their lives.
  • Their parents are often unable to support them, so the youngsters do not acquire basic knowledge and have very low school achievement, with only basic reading and writing.
  • Roma minority children have additional problems as they do not speak Montenegrin well, which is a further barrier to social inclusion.
  • None of them have ever had an opportunity to do any sport and are additionally deprived of opportunities to improve their health or have social interactions with their peers.

Project content

The Learn&Play project will help these 1,400 children, through sport and education, to socialise and become involved in peer activities to improve their social skills, which are neglected because of extreme poverty.

Equal educational and sports opportunities for all children! The project will improve opportunities for children aged 6–12 who live in poverty in suburban and rural areas of Podgorica, by supporting their education and social inclusion through sport. The project consists of football training, literacy classes, and a final event, the Learn&Play Cup. The project will help children turn their lives around by finishing school and gaining social skills.

Objectives

Support education and social inclusion of 1,200 children who live in extreme poverty.

Specific objectives

  1. Provide access to sport – free football training for 1,200 children who live in extreme poverty.
  2. Provide free literacy lessons for 400 children.
  3. Increase the children’s self-esteem, motivation, and social skills.
  4. Promote equal opportunities for all children among the main stakeholders.

Project activities

Organisation of free football training in 10 schools

Select ten elementary schools in Podgorica, with a total of 1,200 pupils, in coordination with the ministry for education, culture, science and sport.

Selected schools will be in areas with the greatest poverty.

2 near to an informal settlement with mostly Roma children

5 in suburban areas

3 in rural areas

Football training, twice a week for 120 children per school in two groups:

Years 1–3 (6 to 8)

Years 4–6 (9 to 12)

Each group will consist of two teams of 30 children, both boys and girls, with a minimum of 30% of girls, and 5% of children with disabilities. Each team will be trained by one coach (licensed physical education teacher from the school or a licensed coach) and one volunteer.

Training programme

This activity will involve 20 physical education teachers or licensed coaches and 20 volunteers. The training will focus specifically on working with children who live in poverty and offer guidance on its mission and values: equality, social inclusion, tolerance, teamwork, stressing the importance of education.

Providing sports equipment:

  • T-shirts will be provided for all 1,200 children (branded with project logo and UEFA logo)
  • Donated second-hand sneakers will be provided for the most vulnerable children
  • Football jerseys and sneakers with the name of their school will be provided for 400 children taking part in the tournament

Visits by famous football players

To motivate the children and promote the project, Montenegrin football players will visit each school and play football with the children.

 Free literacy classes

  1. a) In coordination with the schools, a group of children with literacy difficulties will be chosen for support.
  • 400 children will be provided with free literacy classes (40 children per school): 50% will be girls, 40% Roma children, 5% children with disabilities.
  • Children will be divided into two groups, regardless of age or grade: children with no knowledge of reading (including Roma children who do not speak Montenegrin) and children with reading skills below the normal level for their age.
  • 90-minute classes will be held in schools once a week.
  1. b) Recruiting and training coordinator and volunteers who will help children to learn
  • This activity will involve ten learning supervisors (Montenegrin language teachers) and 40 volunteers. The supervisors will develop learning plans and supervise the volunteers.
  • A training programme will be organised for all of them, focusing on the specific approach in working with children who live in poverty and guidance for the project’s mission and values: equality, social inclusion, tolerance, teamwork, and stressing the importance of education.

Learn&Play Cup – one-day football tournament

  • The Learn&Play Cup will be the first tournament of its kind in Montenegro, promoting social inclusion, equal opportunities and the importance of education and sport for all children.
  • 400 children (4 teams from each selected school) will take part in the tournament.
  • A detailed schedule of football matches will be drawn up in cooperation with the Football Association of Montenegro.
  • The tournament will be organised in the country’s largest stadium, belonging to FC Budućnost, and will resemble regular matches in every way – anthem, lights, security, judges, medals, and a trophy.
  • Football jersey and sneakers will be provided for all children taking part.
  • Transport and snacks will be provided for all children taking part.
  • After the tournament final, a press conference will be held to highlight the project’s achievements and results.

Expected results

  • 840 will children take part in sport for the first time in their lives (a total of 1,200 children given training).
  • 400 children learn to read and write.
  • 1,200 children will improve football skills, self-esteem, self-awareness, motivation, social skills.
  • Increased awareness of social isolation and education challenges of children living in poverty and importance of creating equal opportunities for all.

Partner

SMS – Sportsmanship in a Multicultural Society

Location and general information

Closed
Location Israel
Start date 02/01/2022
End date 12/31/2022
Cost of the project €46,135
Foundation funding €26,529
Project identifier 20210362
Partners A New Way
Categories Access to Sport - Gender Equality - Personal development

Context

Most communities in Israel live in separate towns, experience friction in mixed cities, use separate school systems, and are informed by segregated media channels. This hampers opportunities for mutual respect and peaceful coexistence. The absence of social interaction and shared activities leads to prejudice and stereotypes, instilling fear and anger towards the ‘other’ and their culture. A New Way – with its multicultural education programmes – focuses on Jewish-Arab relations as the largest rift within our society, starting from elementary school age.

Project content

The project aims to foster understanding among children so that Jews and Arabs can collaborate and work together.

A New Way (ANW) operates each year, on average, in 22 communities and 50 schools, bringing together 5,000 Jews and Arabs, mostly children and teenagers, but also teachers, school principals, parents, local leaders, and municipal staff.

In the schools where it operates, ANW holds educational programmes and multi-year processes that enable children and their teaching staff to meet and get to know their counterparts from the other community, learn about their neighbours' culture, develop a common dialogue, and work together towards shared goals.

Understanding that sport fosters collaboration between children from different communities, ANW uses tools from the world of sport to lay the foundation for multicultural collaboration.

The SMS project specifically addresses these needs. ANW will hold unique workshops that create teamwork and collaboration using tools and methods developed with our partners. These workshops will create a unique and empowering first experience for the participants, leading to the ability and willingness to work with the other community – developing from fear and antagonism into real, authentic partnership.

Objectives

  • Promote integration and multicultural collaboration;
  • Create a good first experience of multicultural interactions between Arab and Jewish school pupils;
  • Create the ability and desire for Jewish and Arab children to work together, promote shared goals, and benefit Israeli society together;
  • Strengthen Israeli society and promote a new generation that, through collaboration and joint activities, will improve Jewish-Arab relations in Israel.

Project activities

The collaboration phase is built on three different activities:

  • ODT (outdoor training) challenges in nature – in which children are required to work together in mixed groups to solve a variety of tasks that are built on sports and ODT tools;
  • Circus and acro-yoga workshops – a unique activity in which children learn to work together in circus and acro-yoga activities;
  • Football fair play games – a football activity in which mixed multicultural groups create additional fairness rules that they are required to apply during the game in order to win.

ANW will hold 20 workshop days and create teamwork and multicultural collaboration for 1,400 children, from 40 different schools, divided into 20 multicultural pairs. These workshops would be the high point of ANW’s annual educational programme with these schools.

Expected results

1,400 Jewish and Arab pupils from 40 different schools will take part in the project and gain a unique experience of succeeding in a multicultural environment. Their confidence and belief in their ability to collaborate with members of the other community will improve and this will encourage the desire to continue working together in the future.

By the end of the programme, we expect 80% of the participants to express satisfaction at having participated in multicultural collaboration activities.

75% of the participants would express greater trust in the other community, and at least 75% of them would be ready and willing to collaborate with members of the other community.

Partner

Play for Equality

Location and general information

Ongoing
Location Ukraine
Start date 01/17/2022
End date 12/31/2022
Cost of the project €120,000
Foundation funding €80,000
Project identifier 20210597
Partners Klitschko Foundation
Categories Access to Sport - Gender Equality - Infrastructure and equipment - Personal development

Context

A disappointing trend can be observed in Ukraine – girls do less sport than boys. According to a ministry of finance report, women make up only 25% of those who play sports. In Ukraine, an average of 20,000 boys attend sports schools, as opposed to only 6,000 girls (Lviv State University of Physical Culture, 2012). This discrepancy is caused by the many stereotypes that girls face when they want to play sports. It is necessary to convey the value of sport to the younger generation of girls and debunk stereotypes about women's sports.

Project content

Play for Equality is a project for physical education teachers designed to increase the involvement of girls in sport. Our main message is to communicate the accessibility of sport for girls and motivate them to get involved. During the project, we want to debunk stereotypes about women's sport and engage PE teachers and teenage girls in discussions about self-determination, the need to fight bullying and stereotypes and the importance of women's leadership, equal access to sport, sports physiology and motivation.

Objectives

The mission is to interest teenage girls in sports and physical activity in general, and to develop women's leadership.

Our objectives are:

  • Debunk stereotypes that suggest some types of sport are ‘not for women’;
  • Motivate girls to play sports and lead an active lifestyle;
  • Educate PE teachers on gender issues in schools;
  • Bring about positive changes in society by promoting sports activities;
  • Create permanent centres for the development of women's sports.

 

Project activities

  • Provide a 10-day online (or offline, if possible) training programme for 100 PE teachers;
  • Deliver sports equipment to 100 schools;
  • Create a five-minute educational video about gender inequality in sport for use throughout Ukraine;
  • Create 100 permanent football teams for girls in schools for a period of at least 6 months;
  • Organise a four-day camp for 10 representatives and trainers from football teams:

Expected results

  • 100 permanent football teams created for at least 1,000 teenage girls;
  • 100 schools provided with equipment for safe football lessons and help them organise football teams;
  • 240 girls involved in a football tournament and training about women's leadership, gender equality, healthy living, and other related topics;
  • 100 PE teachers involved in educational training;
  • 1 educational video on women's sports and debunking associated stereotypes.

Partner

We Welcome Young Refugees

Location and general information

Ongoing
Location Kraainem, Belgium
Start date 01/01/2022
End date 12/31/2022
Cost of the project €120,125
Foundation funding €60,000
Project identifier 20211034
Partners Royal Europa Kraainem FC
Categories Access to Sport - Conflict victims - Personal development

Context

Royal Europa Kraainem FC are an amateur club that aspires to defend diversity in Belgian football. In September 2015, during the migration crisis in Europe, the club launched a flagship project to promote the social integration of young refugees and asylum-seekers and adapted its structure to host unaccompanied minors with a migrant background.

Project content

Every afternoon during the football season, from September to May, the club welcomes groups of young refugees and asylum-seekers. They take part in round-table discussions and train with the youth teams. Since 2015, the project has become long-term with the aim of helping these youngsters to blend into society in accordance with the club’s conviction that football is a great integration tool.

Objectives

The project’s main objective is to support asylum-seekers and refugees by getting them involved in the club. This keeps them active and gives them a sense of belonging in their host community. The club also wants to share its experience and approach with football stakeholders and other organisations and inspire them to set up their own projects.

Project activities

A typical afternoon for the beneficiaries comprises a round-table discussion, football training and a social moment around a group meal. The season ends with the Football and Freedom tournament involving 200 youngsters from football clubs and Fedasil asylum centres all over Belgium. Besides the project, occupational training and internships are organised in cooperation with the club’s partners.

Expected results

Next year, the club ought to be able to host about 500 young migrants, bringing the total number of beneficiaries since the start to 3,000. One objective is to focus more on young women, so the club intends to open its doors to over a hundred female refugees. In addition, the club wants to strengthen its partnership with HUMA, a non-profit that provides expertise in producing editorial projects and documentaries, with the aim of developing the club’s digital platform. Videos and interviews with those involved in the project will be published to reach the broadest possible audience.

Partner