Field in a box – Mragowo

Location and general information

CONTEXT

Following the successful installation of the first Field in a Box football pitch in Cañada Real, the UEFA Foundation for Children decided to continue its work with FedEx, which financed the construction of a second pitch in the small town of Mragowo in northeast Poland. The global not-for-profit network streetfootballworld helped to identify the location for the pitch and select local charity Mazurskie Stowarzyszenie Inicjatyw Sportowych (MSIS) to maintain the pitch and ensure its sustainable use and positive impact.

PROJECT CONTENT

The UEFA Foundation for Children has been running the Field in a Box project since 2016, the aim being to provide an enclosed, fully functional artificial football pitch to communities in need. The system is environmentally sustainable and quick to install.

OBJECTIVES

By promoting this project, the UEFA Foundation for Children aims to improve the lives of young people and breathe new life into disadvantaged communities. By providing opportunities to play football, the foundation endeavours to promote children’s health and support their personal development, while instilling in them the values of football, such as respect and team spirit.

RESULTS TO DATE AND EXPECTED RESULTS

  • Organising football training using the football3 method
  • Maintaining and ensuring sustainable use of the pitch through the recruitment of an activities coordinator by local charity Mazurskie Stowarzyszenie Inicjatyw Sportowych (MSIS)
  • Facilitating the integration and social cohesion of different people living in Mragowo

PARTNERS

 

Field in a Box – Cañada Real

Location and general information

CONTEXT

The UEFA Foundation for Children exists to promote the fundamental rights of children all over the world. Health, education, access to sport and personal development are all areas in which children’s rights can be safeguarded.
By providing infrastructure such as football pitches, the Foundation aims to use football as a powerful tool for social cohesion.

PROJECT CONTENT

The Field in a Box project was launched in Cañada Real. Situated less than 15 minutes from the Spanish capital, Cañada Real is one of the largest shanty towns in Europe, housing a total of 30,000 people in deplorable conditions. Relations between the different communities that live there, especially between Roma and Moroccan immigrants, are often difficult.
Thanks to financial support from FedEx – the world’s largest logistics company and main sponsor of the UEFA Europa League – and coordination by the not-for-profit organisation streetfootballworld, the UEFA Foundation for Children donated a football pitch to the charity Red Deporte y Cooperación. The pitch was built using the Field in a Box system, in which all the components of a football pitch are supplied in two containers. The system provides a safe sports facility comprising an enclosed artificial football pitch, goals, floodlights and changing rooms.

OBJECTIVES

The project’s main objective is to enable young people in Cañada Real, where sports facilities are few and far between, to play sport. By promoting football in Cañada Real, the foundation hopes to curb the exclusion of marginalised communities and foster greater social harmony.

RESULTS

In the space of one year:

  • Participation of 400 children (90% boys and 10% girls) in football
  • Organisation of 500 matches
  • Pitch maintained by youth coaches from the local community

Field in a Box is funded as part of FedEx Cares, a wide-ranging campaign that aims to invest in more than 200 communities in Europe and beyond by 2020. By cooperating with the UEFA Foundation for Children alongside its sponsorship of professional football, FedEx hopes to support initiatives with a positive local impact.

PARTNERS