Life Champions 2.0: We are all champions

Location and general information

Ongoing
Location Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia and Croatia
Start date 12/01/2023
End date 11/30/2024
Cost of the project €250,000
Foundation funding €100,000
Project identifier 20230315
Partners Development Center for Youth
Categories Access to Sport - Gender Equality - Healthy lifestyle - Personal development - Strengthening partnerships

Context

The commercialisation of sport has diminished its pedagogic role: instead of education, healthy lifestyles, and positive social values, it is mostly about top performance. An increase in negative phenomena such as intolerance, discrimination and hate speech also suggests sport is departing from its role as a corrective force in society.

The Creating Life Champions project honed in on sport’s role in education and the promotion of positive values, empowering coaches to act as educators again. Not all young sportspeople will be top athletes, but all should be top people. Children go to school because they must and play sport because they want to: this is an important indication of the role sport plays in every child’s upbringing.

Including different stakeholders in the coordination and implementation of Creating Life Champions helped us to better understand how to spread the concept and what issues need addressing most urgently. Consequently, Life Champions 2.0 focuses on more actively involving girls and young women in football, i.e. creating female ‘life champions’.

Project goals

Overall objective

To continue revitalising the educational and pedagogic role of football, leveraging football coaches’ influence on children and adolescents, their upbringing, education, and self-development, with an emphasis on gender equality in and through sport

Our intention is to promote the active participation, visibility and acceptance of girls and women in particular, encouraging our participants to adopt positive principles of gender equality in sport and in all other areas of life.

 Specific objectives

  • To add 30 new coaches to the Life Champions network, focusing on gender equality and accessibility for all
  • To work towards better ratio of women to men in sport, with a view to achieving genuine gender equality, starting at grassroots level
  • To involve at least 500 parents and caregivers and thereby create a strong base of support to further spread the Life Champions concept.

Project content

The project will involve various activities:

  • initial training for 30 new Life Champion coaches,
  • an online networking event for new and existing Life Champion coaches,
  • 6 regional information days focused on girls in sport and promoting their involvement in the international camps,
  • 5 international educational sports camps for more than 700 participants,
  • online activities introducing parents to the concept and specific topics of the Life Champions programme,
  • an end-of-year conference to present the results of the other activities organised over the course of 2024 and make plans for 2025.

All materials will be shared with national, regional, and European counterparts.

The activities will all be accompanied by the strong promotional campaign ‘We are all champions’, focusing on girls in football. The campaign is expected to reach around 5 million people thanks to an ongoing partnership with Arena Sport, the main regional TV sports network, and a number of other media agreements reached in 2023.

While growing the network of Life Champions coaches from 30 to 60 people overall, our focus is on the gender ratio within the network and in all our activities. This means at least 15 female coaches, and at least 250 girls (out of 700 participants in total) in our international camps. In addition, we will involve an additional 500-600 people (youngsters, coaches, club managers, parents, local government, and media) in the six regional info days, and 40 selected stakeholders in the conference.

This year’s concept should pave the way to more active involvement of girls and young women in football, showing that football truly is a sport for all. In doing so, it should open the concept to other minority groups whose involvement in sport is often restricted, such as young migrants, Roma children and other children and adolescents from disadvantaged backgrounds, providing ‘life champions’ for all.

Partners

Life Goals – Future Skills through Football

Location and general information

Ongoing
Location Austria: Vienna, Graz and Lustenau
Start date 12/01/2023
End date 11/30/2024
Cost of the project €302,000
Foundation funding €40,000
Project identifier 20230453
Partners Breaking Grounds
Categories Access to Sport - Employability - Gender Equality - Healthy lifestyle - Personal development

Context

Every fifth child in Austria is at risk of poverty and exclusion. These children are at a distinct disadvantage in the development of the psychosocial competencies needed to face a dynamic future full of crises. As a result, they suffer negative effects on their mental and physical well-being, low social participation, a sense of not belonging, and a lack of preparation for the challenges of a changing world.

Project goals

Young people who are normally difficult to reach are motivated by football to take part in educational offers and increase their commitment. Participants develop and strengthen social, mental and emotional competencies that are central for everyday life, for school and for applications and vocational success. Participants have stronger personalities and their life prospects have improved. Their socio-economic situation improves, promoting long-term and equal participation in society.

Project content

Life Goals is an extensively tested and evaluated approach to teaching future skills through football. In specially developed sports modules, situations are simulated that require and train specific competencies. After each sports module, a reflection guide is used to reflect on what was experienced on the sports field and to transfer what was learned to the children's everyday lives. Since 2021, more than 2000 underprivileged kids have taken part and have demonstrably increased their self-efficacy.

Partners

VillaGol: Football for Life

Location and general information

Ongoing
Location Peru
Start date 01/01/2023
End date 06/30/2024
Cost of the project €97,915
Foundation funding €47,128
Project identifier 20220801
Partners Fundación Athletic Club
Categories Access to Sport - Children with disabilities - Environmental protection - Gender Equality - Healthy lifestyle - Infrastructure and equipment - Personal development

Context

The project is based on one of the world’s greatest success stories in building a local caring community: Villa El Salvador in Lima, Peru. Following the Shining Path Communist party’s violent insurgency, the military government worked directly with the community to develop an alternative to eviction for 4,000 homeless families in Lima. The government surveyed and divided up a large piece of vacant land south of the city, offering lots to any family in Lima that needed housing. These lots were organised into residential units: groups of several blocks each featuring a central plaza as a natural space for community organisation. The resulting town, Villa El Salvador, was awarded various distinctions, including the title of Messenger City of Peace by UNESCO and the Príncipe de Asturias Prize by Spain the same year, both in 1987. It is probably the most famous shanty town in Peru.

Unity and strength have always been part and parcel of Villa El Salvador. Inspired by and modelled on this, the VillaGol: Football for Life project is essentially a preventive project that aims to ensure that children spend their free time on appropriate sports and recreational activities, thus reducing the risk of them engaging in dangerous risky behaviour.

Project goals

The project's objectives are to reinforce cohabitation values among this very diverse population through football, using the sport as a tool to bring communities together and tackle social problems; to prevent violence among young people by promoting peace and coexistence, and to promote women's sports. The aim is to promote the integration of children and adolescents through recreational activities to prevent them from engaging in risky behaviour.

Project content

  1. Planning the VillaGol programme in sports schools
  2. Coordinating and implementing security measures
  3. Training coaches holding a C license awarded by the Peruvian Football Federation
  4. Providing educational and sports equipment for annual competitions
  5. Repairing and refurbishing the clubhouse (painting and lighting fixtures)
  6. Paying administrative staff

Partner

PLAY TOGETHER – PORUCH

Location and general information

Closed
Location 15 regions of Ukraine
Start date 01/01/2023
End date 12/31/2023
Cost of the project €267,628
Foundation funding €125,000
Project identifier 20220528
Partners The Charity Found "Around Football”
Categories Access to Sport - Children with disabilities - Conflict victims - Healthy lifestyle - Personal development

Context

Children, affected by war, experienced fear, are withdrawn, and psychologically stressed. And sport is one of the tools that can provide psychosocial support to such children.

Project goals

  • Create a network of professional volunteers (managers, coaches, medical and psychological volunteers) in 15 regions of Ukraine.
  • Conduct training for the teams of specialists: briefings by instructors, child protection courses.
  • Conduct psychosocial sessions for children and youth.

Project content

The main purpose of the project is provision of targeted psychosocial support to children and teenagers, affected by war. This support will be provided through sport activities. A network of trained teams of specialists (managers, sport coaches, medical volunteers, psychologists) will work with children, involve them in sport activities. Such form of work with children will help the direct beneficiaries to overcome fear and to return to normal life.

Partners

Sport youth inspiring the future – Line Up, Live Up

Location and general information

Ongoing
Location Chui, Naryn, Issyk-Kul and Talas oblasts, Kyrgyzstan
Start date 12/01/2022
End date 06/30/2023
Cost of the project €50 000
Foundation funding €50 000
Project identifier 20220786
Partners Institute for Youth Development
Categories Access to Sport - Healthy lifestyle - Personal development

Context

According to the Kyrgyzstan National Statistical Committee, the country had 1.6 million young people aged 14–28 in 2018, of which 51% were men and 49% women.

The Kyrgyz Republic has a young population, with over a quarter between 14 and 28. Some 70% of young people live in rural districts. There is an urgent need for more extracurricular activities, mostly in rural regions. Getting children to try a broad range of sports at an early age with specialist coaching would boost the culture of sport in Kyrgyzstan.

Project goals

1) Improve the behaviour of young people through involvement in football and sport in general

2) Promote sport and healthy lifestyles among young people

3) Encourage marginalised and potentially antisocial young people to try sport

Project content

Our focus is on rural regions in northern Kyrgyzstan, for a target audience of young people aged 14–16 who are just finding their way in society, forming communities of interest and thinking about their futures.

1) Liaising with youth specialists from the regional education department to identify the schools and regions with the greatest need

2) Educating trainers to deliver the ‘Get into life’ programme in Bishkek

3) Recruiting 150–300 participants to form 16 football teams

4) Organising an inter-regional tournament in four locations

5) Holding a major tournament in Bishkek

Partners

KIFUMPA – Girls United

Location and general information

Ongoing
Location Lubumbashi, Katanga region, Democratic Republic of Congo
Start date 01/09/2023
End date 06/30/2024
Cost of the project €138000
Foundation funding €75000
Project identifier 20220560
Partners Play for Change UK charitable trust
Categories Access to Sport - Employability - Healthy lifestyle - Infrastructure and equipment - Personal development

Context

Lubumbashi is the second largest city in the Democratic Republic of Congo and the country’s mining capital. Political instability, corruption and violence are rife, including widespread attacks against civilians, fighting between ethnic factions, sexual violence and murder. The country is also plagued by malnutrition, easily treatable but highly infectious, deadly diseases such as malaria and sleeping sickness, the world’s second highest rate of infant mortality and high maternal mortality.

Widely considered an economic resource, families tend to have many children (often more than ten) but lack the resources to support them. Many children are thus abandoned and find themselves living on the street, perpetuating cycles of theft, crime, drugs and violence.

Child brides, young mothers and sexual violence against adolescent girls and young women are commonplace.

Project goals

Educational inclusion: Increase participation in school activities and reduce school dropout rates

Gender equality: Break down gender barriers and develop mutual respect

Educational capacities: Train educators and coaches

Basic skills: Promote awareness of participants' own aptitudes, enhance their relational, emotional, motor and cognitive skills, and help girls in particular to better plan their futures

Health and well-being: Improve the health and well-being of minors through access to clean water, food, sanitation, education, etc.

Sport: Encourage participation in sport, in particular football, especially among girls

Safe spaces: Guarantee access to safe spaces and solutions tailored to the needs of minors

In numbers:

  • 36 trained technical and educational staff
  • 450 students
  • 10 schools involved in workshops
  • 40 girls involved in pre-academy activities
  • 1,000 street children reached by awareness campaigns

Project content

Launched in January 2023, the KIFUMPA (=a Swahili word meaning ball of rugs) project comprises six activities in four categories.

Awareness campaigns

PROXIMITY/SCOUTING CAMPAIGNS: Five evening visits to neighbourhoods where street girls live, to promote the educational and sporting activities available.

COMMUNITY EVENT: Open access concerts and theatre in an area of the city frequented by street children to break down the cultural barriers and stereotypes surrounding activities typically considered to be “for men”.

Staff training

An introduction to values-based training and the importance of identifying and addressing children’s frailties and educational needs during sports activities, helping coaches to support young players’ holistic growth and teaching educators to promote gender equality, resilience and teamwork.

School workshops

A four-hour educational and recreational workshop for 10 schools, using football and art to promote gender equality, inclusion, teamwork and sport among 10 to 14-year-olds.

Education and sport

SUMMER CAMPS: Three weeks of educational and recreational sports activities at the end of the school year, in June and July 2023, as an introduction to the pre-academy.

PRE-ACADEMY: Educational and football courses from September 2023 (5hrs of language classes, 5hrs of maths, 15hrs of general culture and 5hrs of football each week) on the premises of the Futuka men's academy (pending completion of the Msichana Football Academy).

Partner

Reintegration to school through sport

Location and general information

Ongoing
Location Batticaloa, Eastern Province, Sri Lanka
Start date 02/01/2023
End date 07/31/2023
Cost of the project €20,285,00
Foundation funding €20,300
Project identifier 20220861
Partners Street Child
Categories Access to Sport - Healthy lifestyle - Infrastructure and equipment - Personal development

Context

In Sri Lanka, many children have endured the negative effects of isolation and a lack of social interaction over the last three years due to COVID-19 school closures and now the severe economic crisis. These events will have a long-term impact on the country, with the effect that many children will be left behind. It is difficult for children to acquire essential life skills without spending significant amounts of time with their peers. The well-being of young people is a major concern. Students with irregular school attendance fall far behind in class and often drop out.

Project goals

Active participation in sport develops both cognitive and non-cognitive skills, offering students a holistic learning experience and producing well-rounded individuals. The objectives of the project are to: (i) reintegrate students into school with a positive attitude, in classroom settings that encourage student retention, and (ii) introduce regular sporting activity in schools to encourage consistent social interaction.

Project content

In total, 900 students will benefit from improved PE classes with football lessons.

Some 18 teachers at six schools will receive two months of training from experienced educators in active learning practices, in particular how to create, manage and deliver sports-based learning in the classroom.

Furthermore, 180 students will benefit from a two-month training programme for six community football teams. This will feature football training, after-school football sessions and weekly inter-school matches.

The data gathered during the impact assessment process will be used by Street Child to produce reports to be distributed both locally (to schools, partners and stakeholders) and internationally. Street Child will share the results with its offices in other countries and local partners, identifying the strengths of the model and promoting its replication where appropriate.

Partners

Facing crisis through football in Colombia & Venezuela

Location and general information

Ongoing
Location Colombia (Cauca, Valle del Cauca, Vichada) and Venezuela (Caracas)
Start date 01/31/2023
End date 12/31/2023
Cost of the project €212,864
Foundation funding €99,864
Project identifier 20220558
Partners Inter Campus
Categories Access to Sport - Employability - Gender Equality - Healthy lifestyle - Personal development - Strengthening partnerships

Context

Colombia and Venezuela are experiencing unprecedented economic crises, affecting in particular the most vulnerable: children, women and minorities. Thousands of young people and their families are facing food shortages, resulting in limited physical development and possibly also irreversible mental damage. This economic and social crisis is linked to acute political disorder, giving rise to insecurity, violence and corruption.

Project goals

The objective is to support children’s physical, mental and social health, providing them with cultural elements and a psychological structure to face threats prevalent in their communities.

Two main priorities have been identified:

1. Bridging a nutritional gap affecting children’s development

2. Countering a wave of violence caused by the socio-economic crisis, mainly as a result of drug production, distribution and consumption

Project content

There are three approaches:

1. Teach local coaches how to teach children team values: respect for the coaches, rules and referees; seeing opponents not as enemies but as partners; cooperating with other children; learning to make the most of their time in training and school activities; growing their skills and gaining self-confidence; getting stronger against adversities by learning how to deal with winning and losing; and how to fulfil their dreams by working hard; training even in bad weather; and learning how to overcome stress or aggressive instincts in a positive way.

2. Promote integration among people with different languages, cultures, and religions; reducing violence; gender equality and confidence-building.

3. The mere presence of the Inter brand will attract attention from volunteers, sponsors, local authorities, other social offices or NGOs and inspire them to help.

The project will last 24 months, based on weekly training sessions and periodical weekend matches, and involve 530 vulnerable children from 6 to 13 years old living in 11 different rural and urban contexts in Colombia and Venezuela.

The training will be run by local educators applying an innovative socio-sports methodology according to local needs. Weekly nutritional support will be given, by providing healthy, good-quality food normally not available to these children.

Local partners, the Fundación Crecer Jugando in Colombia and the Fundación Magallanes in Venezuela, will select and run the activities.

Twelve coaches will take part in a working group and learn to use the scientific tools used to asses children’s personality, as well as basic sports-related skills on social, emotional, cognitive issues.

Partners

Sports for Resilience and Empowerment Project, phase 2

Location and general information

Ongoing
Location Acholi neighbourhood, Kinuuma Masindi district, Kampala city, Uganda
Start date 12/01/2022
End date 12/01/2024
Cost of the project €350000
Foundation funding €200000
Project identifier 20220122
Partners The Aliguma Foundation
Categories Access to Sport - Children with disabilities - Conflict victims - Employability - Environmental protection - Gender Equality - Healthy lifestyle - Infrastructure and equipment - Personal development - Strengthening partnerships

Context

The Aliguma Foundation is a charitable organisation that helps marginalised communities access the basic requirements of life. The organisation aims to improve the living standards of mothers and children. The foundation currently operates in Acholi, a slum neighbourhood on the outskirts of Kampala, mostly inhabited by refugees from northern Uganda.

Project goals

1. Identify and develop the career goals of individuals through sport

2. Enhance education and literacy among children to promote holistic development

3. Provide decent housing and a safe environment in which women from deprived backgrounds can raise their children

4. Create income-generating alternatives for mothers who are suffering severe hardships

5. Consolidate the progress made by the project by using sport and businesses as catalysts to allow 1,500 women and 5,000 children and young people to move out of social and economic exclusion

6. Extend the Sports for Resilience and Empowerment Project to refugee communities in the West Nile region and parts of western Uganda by organising football tournaments for refugee and host communities

7. Establish a football tournament for primary schools as a means to campaign for the protection of children, and girls in particular

8. Use football matches as a vehicle to offer more educational scholarships

9. Continue the construction of the Sports and Empowerment Centre, including two football pitches, volleyball and basketball courts and dormitories at the Women and Child Empowerment Centre in Masindi

10. Establish a practical skills unit at the Sports and Empowerment Centre in Masindi

 

Project content

- Girl child campaign in schools and communities

- Slum Soccer tournament

- UEFA Foundation ball project in schools

- Education

- Infrastructure development

- Income-generating activities at the empowerment centre

Partners

Score without barriers

Location and general information

Ongoing
Location Brovary, Poltava, Vinnytsia, Lviv, Zhytomyr, Smila (Ukraine)
Start date 03/01/2022
End date 03/31/2024
Cost of the project €43,124
Foundation funding €35,640
Project identifier 20210735
Partners Shakhtar Social
Categories Access to Sport - Children with disabilities - Gender Equality - Healthy lifestyle

Context

Research by the Ukrainian Ministry of Youth and Sports suggests that only 6,000 disabled children took part in sports in 2019. According to a report published that year by the country’s state statistics committee, this figure represents just 3.7% of the disabled children in Ukraine.

Project goals

The project, which works in close cooperation with Special Olympics Ukraine and local partner the National Assembly of Persons with Disabilities of Ukraine, aims to improve access to sports, and football in particular, for 180 disabled children aged between 7 and 16 years old. Some 50 coaches will be taught about disability sports and the project will promote social inclusion and protect children's rights. The children will benefit from free football sessions and masterclasses over the year, delivered by the foundation's coaches and FC Shakhtar players. At least 10% of participants will be girls.

Project content

The primary focus of the project is to provide 50 grassroots football coaches from all around Ukraine, as well as the foundation’s coaches, with training in disability football. The sessions will be delivered by local experts in grassroots and disability football. The methodology will include the major topics of grassroots football, inclusive football, football for disabled children, and tolerance and respect in football (preventing violence and bullying).

The project’s second strand is free football sessions under the ‘Score without barriers’ label. These are led twice a week by a coach and two volunteers in six locations covering almost all of Ukraine: Brovary, Poltava, Vinnytsia, Lviv, Zhytomyr, Smila. Each coach trains 30 children, at least 10% of whom are girls. The one-hour football sessions include physical exercises, games, personal training and a football match, all adapted to be suitable for disabled children. All the necessary equipment will be provided: training kits, balls, disc cones, bibs, a whistle, football nets, first-aid kits, football pumps, freeze sprays and coordination ladders. Each location has an artificial pitch and sports gym.

The project’s third activity consists of six football masterclasses, one in each target location, delivered by FC Shakhtar representatives. A first-team or academy player or coach from FC Shakhtar will visit each project location to teach children basic football skills and join in fun activities and games in the two-hour event. The children will have the opportunity to chat to the players and receive gifts and autographs from the club. The local media will be invited to cover the event to boost the project’s profile. The staff of Shakhtar Social will be in charge of preparing and running the events and taking care of the associated logistics. The masterclasses aim to enhance the impact of the project, offer the children the chance to meet FC Shakhtar players and unite the participants in each location. Thirty children will take part in each event.

Partners

The Knowledge to be Healthy

Location and general information

Ongoing
Location Romania
Start date 12/01/2022
End date 12/31/2023
Cost of the project €70,000
Foundation funding €70,000
Project identifier 20220457
Partners United Way Romania
Categories Access to Sport - Healthy lifestyle

Context

In Romania, 1 in 4 children have weight problems. The World Obesity Federation estimates that by 2030, 500,000 Romanian children will be obese. According to experts, the main culprits for the increase in the rate of childhood obesity are unhealthy diets, high in salt, sugar and fat, combined with a lack of physical activity.  

These worrying trends reflect the lack of nutritional education of parents and children, the high degree of urbanisation and digitisation, and the aggressive marketing of unhealthy foods and beverages. Another contributing factor is the popular belief that a fat child is a healthy child, which encourages some families to overfeed their children. Due to their lack of education and information about nutrition and the importance of exercise, the parents are not even aware of their children's weight and health issues. 

In the case of children from disadvantaged backgrounds, in large low-income families, or whose parents have gone abroad leaving the children in the care of elderly grandparents, the problems mentioned above are even more serious and increase the likelihood of passing the problem on to the next generation.  

Project goals

The overall goal is to promote a healthy lifestyle at two schools in disadvantaged communities in Bucharest and Ilfov county. The beneficiaries are 800 children aged 7–14 years old. 

Objectives:  

  1. Educate children about the importance of a balanced diet and exercise 
  2. Promote sport, through sports activities and team games such as: soccer, basketball, volleyball, badminton and table tennis 
  3. Provide a healthy snack (fruit, cereal bars) during sports activities 
  4. Organise sports days combined with information sessions on the importance of good nutrition and exercise for a healthy life 

Project content

  1. 12 information and education sessions on the importance of a healthy life, once a month at the beneficiaries’ two schools. The age-appropriate sessions will be taught by qualified staff. Beneficiaries: 300 children
  2. Four activities for small groups of pupils, divided into age groups, on topics such as fair play, teamwork and tackling bullying. A session will be held once every three months, for each age group at the two schools involved. Beneficiaries: 300 children
  3. Five sports (football, volleyball, badminton, basketball and ping-pong) in weekly sports sessions before and after school. Beneficiaries: 300 children
  4. Both schools equipped with water supply filters to ensure pupils can keep hydrated with clean water.
  5. Healthy snacks (fruits, cereal bars, dietary supplements) during educational sessions and sports training to improve the beneficiaries’ nutrition and eating habits. Beneficiaries: 300 children for the weekly sports activities and another 500 children during the sports days
  6. Sports days for all 800 children involved.

Partners

Sport dans la Ville summer camp and training centre for young people

Location and general information

Ongoing
Location Le Poët-Laval (France)
Start date 11/30/2022
End date 11/29/2023
Cost of the project €674,000
Foundation funding €100,000
Project identifier 20220257
Partners Sport dans la Ville
Categories Access to Sport - Healthy lifestyle - Infrastructure and equipment - Personal development

Context

Sport dans la Ville has always sought to offer holidays to the young people that it supports, to give them a break from their everyday lives and broaden their horizons. One in four children does not have a summer holiday and the pandemic has only made things worse, accentuating the difficulties faced by youngsters living in disadvantaged areas. Not going on holiday means not having the opportunity to unwind, discover new things, spend time in nature and meet new people. Holidays can change lives; they are essential to every child’s personal and educational development, giving them strength and motivation. That is why Sport dans la Ville has built its own summer camp and training centre to welcome youngsters its supports who cannot otherwise get away.  

Project goals

Sport dans la Ville wants to offer holidays to increasing numbers of children. The goal for the 2023 season is to organise five camps for 500 young people that the organisation supports and 50 from partner organisations abroad (i.e. 110 youngsters at each camp). 

Project content

The activities will be run by experienced Sport dans la Ville educational teams. The centre is located on the Chabotte estate, surrounded by nature.

Its exceptional location makes it the perfect place to try new things and pick up new habits in the best conditions possible. The camps will focus on four themes that young people from disadvantaged areas often consider irrelevant but which are in fact essential to a better life: movement, food, nature and openness. 

  • Movement: move more, become aware of your body, feel the pleasure of exercise and do creative activities.  
  • Food: aim for a varied diet, discover meals that delight the taste buds, and make cooking and eating a shared experience. 
  • Nature: live in communion with nature by learning to discover and respect a new environment. 
  • Openness: open up to others by participating in intercultural exchanges in the region of Drôme Provençale, discovering local heritage (lavender, nougat and ceramics) and welcoming participants from partner organisations in Britain, the United States and Brazil. 

After the holidays are over, Sport dans la Ville will ensure the youngsters it supports apply the good habits they adopted while away on the sports pitches back at home. 

Partners

Football for Kids

Location and general information

Ongoing
Location Switzerland
Start date 01/01/2023
End date 12/01/2023
Cost of the project €45000
Foundation funding €20000
Project identifier 20220500
Partners PluSport Disabled Sports Switzerland
Categories Access to Sport - Children with disabilities - Healthy lifestyle - Infrastructure and equipment

Context

PluSport is the Swiss federation for disability sport. It has promoted the integration of disabled people through sport for over 60 years. PluSport uses football to promote disability sport among its 12,000 amateur members; 90 regional clubs offer a wide range of sports. PluSport also organises some 100 camps.

Project goals

To use football as a tool for the integration and promotion of young people. All children should be given the opportunity to have fun playing football, make new friends and integrate socially.

Main objectives:

  • Facilitate access to ball games for disabled children
  • Create new ball sport groups for children and teenagers
  • Develop the discipline of rafroball for young wheelchair users
  • Promote and develop sports for disabled people
  • Participate in projects through partnership relations
  • Encourage social integration through sport

Project content

Disability football has great promotional potential. Thanks to the support of the energy group Axpo Holding AG, promotional events are planned in support of the national disability sports day and the ‘PluSport football teams’ project for disabled children and young people. The goal is to create at least 15 youth groups for approximately 220 athletes with eight tournaments a year.

‘From Football to Rafroball’ project

This project introduces a new integrative form of play for wheelchair users called rafroball. This is a ball game developed for both disabled and non-disabled young people that replaces football for wheelchair users.

The objective is to create five youth groups with 50 active athletes and to organise two tournaments and a sports camp each year.

Action plan

  • Integrate children, teenagers and whole groups in PluSport clubs or regional associations of the Swiss Football Association
  • Identify infrastructure needed for training/matches (halls, pitches, changing rooms)
  • Provide training for coaches
  • Organise additional tournaments
  • Organise football camps for children and teenagers
  • Provide compensation for volunteers (coaching staff, referees, athletes)
  • Purchase equipment for training and tournaments

Partners

Fitba Players

Location and general information

Ongoing
Location Scotland
Start date 12/01/2022
End date 03/01/2024
Cost of the project €124000
Foundation funding €88000
Project identifier 20220116
Partners Scottish Football Partnership Trust
Categories Access to Sport - Healthy lifestyle - Personal development

Context

In Scotland the unfortunate situation is that you have to pay to play, even though clubs try to support those most in need where possible. A recent survey carried out by the Scottish FA suggested that at least 49% of community clubs have had to increase their monthly fees for children to cover increased operational costs. This will lead to more children dropping out of the game. Every young person has a basic human right to be involved in sport and feel included, regardless of their financial or social circumstances. This project will support this aspiration.

Project goals

Our plan is to support 400–500 disadvantaged children over a 12-month period. If we can help these children and their families through the difficult times brought about by the cost-of-living crisis, we stand a greater chance of their participating in football for life.

Project content

The SFP Trust will set up a bursary application process and work with grassroots community clubs. Funding will support individual children up to the age of 18 who play at community football clubs and who are at risk of dropping out of the game due to financial hardship. Affiliated clubs will be encouraged to apply for funding to cover 12 months of participation costs for disadvantaged children, meaning that the players can stay on the pitch and remain part of the football family.

Partners

SCORING GIRLS

Location and general information

Ongoing
Location Germany & Iraq
Start date 01/01/2023
End date 12/31/2023
Cost of the project €435,000
Foundation funding €115,000
Project identifier 20220430
Partners HÁWAR.help
Categories Access to Sport - Children with disabilities - Conflict victims - Gender Equality - Healthy lifestyle - Personal development

Context

More people are displaced today than at any time since World War II. In Germany, there are approximately 1.4 million refugees, while in post-conflict Iraq, some 1.2 million inhabitants are internally displaced persons (IDPs). Action is needed to tackle barriers to the integration of refugees and IDPs, especially women and girls. Female refugees face additional hurdles to integration, from family pressures to cultural and host community expectations. These issues need to be addressed.

Project goals

SCORING GIRLS* uses football as a tool to empower a unique target group – refugee, migrant and underprivileged girls aged 9–18. A weekly programme promotes self-esteem and a sense of community to boost social integration. The SCORING GIRLS* project has been implemented in three IDP camps in Iraq and seven locations in Germany and encourages the development of a shared identity among the participants and their host communities.

Objectives

  1. Empower refugee and IDP girls through soft-skill development and psychosocial support
  2. Support the development of a strong, inclusive community by strengthening social cohesion and community services for refugees and their families
  3. Promote direct engagement and mutual understanding between refugee and IDP girls and host communities in Germany and Iraq
  4. Raise awareness of the potential of sport as a tool to empower and integrate refugees

Expected results

  1. Improved soft skills such as self-confidence, teamwork and resilience in 280 girls
  2. The construction of cohesive communities of girls with diverse backgrounds in nine locations
  3. Active support of girls involved in the project by 500 family members
  4. Some 700,000 people taught the power of sport to build cohesive communities and empower girls

Project content

The following activities will take place with 160 girls at two venues in Germany and three IDP camps in Iraq.

Weekly empowerment programme

  1. Recruitment of girls and relationship-building
  2. Weekly football-based, soft-skills programme
  3. Empowerment dialogues with role models

Community-building programme

  1. Group excursions
  2. Family engagement events and training
  3. Friendly football matches

Partners

Football for All

Location and general information

Closed
Location Beyrouth, North Bekaa, Lebanon
Start date 01/01/2023
End date 12/31/2023
Cost of the project €90240
Foundation funding €60000
Project identifier 20220033
Partners Tawazon Initiative for Development (TID)
Categories Access to Sport - Healthy lifestyle - Personal development

Context

The Football for All project helps Lebanese children who are suffering as a result of the severe economic, health, social and political crises that have afflicted Lebanon since October 2019. These circumstances became even more difficult after the devastating explosion in the port of Beirut in August 2020.

Project goals

  • Create safe spaces for young players to enjoy football.
  • Give children from deprived backgrounds access to structured football training, taking into account that they may not be able to use existing football structures given the dangers and unpredictability of the streets in the current climate in Lebanon.
  • Offer children football training with all its associated values (cohesion, team spirit, fair play, mutual assistance, solidarity), while offering respite from sectarian, political and religious conflicts.
  • Promote the personal development and integration of young Lebanese people into society. Offer a healthy after-school activity.

Project content

The project gives children access to football training centres. Former Lebanese international players, qualified to teach, will provide two training sessions and a match every week. A coordinator will liaise and organise matches between training centres. Five training centres will open their doors to children in Lebanon’s five regions.

Partners