Open Fun Football Schools – Iraq

Location and general information

Ongoing
Location Iraq
Start date 03/01/2022
End date 12/31/2022
Cost of the project €100,000
Foundation funding €100,000
Project identifier 20211041
Partners Cross Cultures
Categories Access to Sport - Personal development

Context

Iraq is a fragile country suffering from decades of war, violent uprisings, sectarian conflicts, tyranny and rampant corruption. In addition, the poverty rate is estimated to be 27%, the youth unemployment rate is 36%, female participation in the workforce is just 13%, and more than 3.2 million children are out of school. Iraq's stability, social cohesion and future prosperity cannot be improved without giving the young generation better life opportunities and a collective voice in political, civic and social life.

Project content

The purpose of this project is to bring an updated version of Cross Cultures’ successful Open Fun Football Schools (OFFS) concept to Iraq, with an additional focus on strengthening the resilience of young voluntary coaches and children by paying special attention to the beneficiaries' education and employability.

The project uses Cross Cultures’ Youth Leadership Education initiative as a platform to mobilise and empower a network of young people as OFFS Coaches and Youth Leaders. The aims of the social and civic activities undertaken are as follows:

  1. Help at-risk children to stay in school or return to school.
  2. Provide the young coaches and leaders with a platform and an "anchor" in their local community with a view to enhancing their resilience, employability and life opportunities.

Objectives

  • To mobilise and empower a network of young people and enhance their capacity to use OFFS and other self-organised social football activities as a platform for their voluntary social and civic commitment.
  • To facilitate child protection activities for at-risk children and help them to stay in school or return to school. These activities include OFFS, other social football activities, teaching of relevant life skills and non-formal schooling.

 

Project activities

  • Train 60 young people as OFFS leaders and coaches.
  • OFFS leaders and coaches organise OFFS, Fun Festivals and FSR activities for 1,000 children aged 6–12 years old. At least 50% of the participants must be unschooled and 40% must be girls.
  • OFFS leaders facilitate the teaching of essential life skills to at-risk children.
  • Train OFFS leaders in social entrepreneurship and civil society organisation.

Expected results

  • 60 young OFFS leaders and coaches are empowered as Youth Leaders and gain the knowledge and skills to use OFFS in the best interests of vulnerable children while also enhancing their own resilience and life opportunities.
  • 1,000 children enjoy fun football activities and learn life skills with peers from different backgrounds in a context that promotes friendship, peace, child protection and gender equality.
  • Together with Cross Cultures, the local partner organisations refresh, strengthen and further develop their unique nationwide FSR network in Iraq.

Partner

Let me play football!

Location and general information

Ongoing
Location Moldavie
Start date 03/01/2022
End date 02/15/2023
Cost of the project €62,939
Foundation funding €50,000
Project identifier 20210884
Partners Football Association of Moldova, Scenario NGO
Categories Access to Sport - Employability - Gender Equality - Personal development

Context

Moldova is one of Europe's poorest countries and has been politically unstable since 2006. Even then, it had one of the highest numbers of orphanages in Europe, though most of the institutionalised children were not orphans but had been given up by parents who could not afford to raise them. Unemployment in Moldova is high and young adults often move abroad to find work, leaving their children behind to be looked after by the state. They believe that what they are doing is in their children’s best interests.

Project content

The project involves a number of development programmes aimed at children living in orphanages all over the country, including facilitating access to football activities.

  • National football championship between orphanages
  • Friendly match between a national ‘dream team’ comprising children from Moldovan orphanages and a team of children from orphanages abroad
  • Scenario Smart Camp, a sports and entertainment camp for 50 children from 15 orphanages who have previously demonstrated motivation for educational activities, competitions and cultural and sports programmes run by our NGO
  • In-person maths tutoring to bring struggling children up to school standard
  • In-person English classes to help orphans living in rural institutions to improve their speaking skills
  • Christmas/New Year’s Eve sports party – an opportunity for children to have fun and make friends from other orphanages
  • Remote IT school, giving children skills that are essential in the 21st century, including the use of IT tools such as MS Word, Excel, PowerPoint, search engines, etc.
  • Remote good manners school to give institutionalised children the social and cultural education that is normally provided by the family

Objectives

  • Provide access to sports activities, leading to better health and personal achievements among children living in orphanages
  • Provide high-quality education, motivating the children to continue through secondary and higher education
  • Help children living in orphanages to become the best version of themselves
  • Protect the children’s rights and integrate them into society so that they are no longer vulnerable and are valued as full citizens

Project activities

  • Organise a championship among orphanages
  • Provide language courses and other tutoring for 300 institutionalised children
  • Organise a Christmas and New Year’s Eve party for all children living in 15 orphanages in Moldova
  • Give children gifts
  • Provide all orphanages with supplies
  • Provide participating children with free football equipment

Expected results

For children:

  • Improved academic performance
  • Access to sport
  • Increased aspirations and self-confidence
  • Improved communication and interpersonal relationships based on respect and tolerance
  • Enriched cultural development

For retired persons and teachers:

  • Opportunities for additional earnings
  • Expansion of their social environment
  • Satisfaction of playing an important social role
  • Opportunity to put their experience to good use

Partners

Action and Fun!

Location and general information

Ongoing
Location Minsk and Mogilev regions, Belarus
Start date 06/01/2022
End date 04/30/2023
Cost of the project €169,050,00
Foundation funding €152,000,00
Project identifier 20210627
Partners Caritas Oberösterreich
Categories Access to Sport - Infrastructure and equipment - Personal development

Context

In addition to the difficult political situation, people in Belarus are severely affected by economic hardships and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. According to official data and research by UNICEF Belarus, about 30,000 children live in out-of-home care, 30% of whom in state-run boarding houses, mainly for reasons of disability (46 %). State-run institutions lack the funds to make their premises accessible, invest in the surroundings or provide occupational training. Two-thirds of families with three or more children live below the poverty line, most in rural areas. More than one million people live in areas still affected by the Chernobyl catastrophe.

Project content

The aim is to improve the psychosocial well-being of vulnerable children in Belarus by means of inclusive activities (contribution to SDG 3: improved well-being; UNCRC: right to play and exercise; UNCRPD: right to inclusion).

Partly, activities will take place in the Caritas Centre St Lucas in Borovlyany (near Minsk), a centre for children suffering from cancer and their caregivers, children’s holiday recreational activities, activities for children with disabilities and others living in the surrounding area. Other activities will be held in state-run schools, boarding houses, foster families and in parishes in the Minsk and Mogilev regions.

Objectives

Objective 1: 420 youngsters: (children suffering from cancer, children of all abilities and children of vulnerable families staying in the Caritas Centre St Lucas) can use a new, inclusive playground

Objective 2: 8,200 vulnerable children are encouraged to get more exercise during Caritas action days (Action and Fun Bus) and enjoy a more inclusive environment in state institutions

Objective 3: 40 teachers and caregivers learn how to add exercise to the everyday lives of children of all abilities

Project activities

Activity Cluster 1: Build the inclusive playground; organise special activities for children living in the surrounding area during weekends and holidays

Activity Cluster 2.1: Purchase the bus and inclusive equipment; organise ‘activity days’ in parishes and state-run boarding houses; train volunteers

Activity Cluster 2.2: Launch a call for tender for inclusive micro-projects for schools

Activity Cluster 3: Organise two train-the-trainer sessions about the programme, to develop and distribute a manual

Expected results

Result 1: An inclusive playground in the Caritas-Centre St Lucas near Minsk will be used by 420 children living with cancer and other vulnerable children

Result 2.1: 3,200 vulnerable children will be encouraged to play and to get exercise during activity days

Result 2.2: State-run institutions will provide a more inclusive environment through a micro-project tender

Result 3: 40 teachers or school staff are taught how to run the programme in their everyday work and share their knowledge with parents and colleagues

Partner

Football for Everyone

Location and general information

Ongoing
Location Chile; Puerto Williams, Visviri and Easter Island
Start date 05/01/2022
End date 12/31/2022
Cost of the project €19,133
Foundation funding €19,133
Project identifier 20211182
Partners Fundación Ganamos Todos
Categories Access to Sport - Infrastructure and equipment - Personal development

Context

Ganamos Todos is an organisation that was born in 2011, which seeks to intervene in communities through the practice of physical activity. In 8 years, they impacted almost 200,000 young people in more than 200 communities in the country. They work to reach all of Chile.

Convinced that sport unites, breaks down barriers and improves opportunities for children and young people, Ganamos Todos develop key skills for better social integration for boys and girls in isolated regions of Chile: Visviri (in the Andes), Easter Island (in the Pacific), Puerto Williams (last city before Antarctica).

Project content

This project involves travelling to Visviri, Easter Island and Puerto Williams to give 50 boys and 50 girls new adidas football boots and donate 100 adidas balls to each location. The team coordinated with the municipal sports entity of each of these locations in advance to ensure the shoes were the correct sizes. We will be accompanied by a former football player who participated in the men’s or women’s FIFA World Cup or played for a European league team. Their presence will motivate the community. This person will deliver a talk to the community, highlighting the positive values, they have learned thanks to football, and how they contribute to building a better society. Then, with all the boys and girls present, we will celebrate a football festival during the day, so that the children can use their gifts, and football is celebrated as an opportunity for growth.

 

Objectives

We intend to bring football closer to communities that, for geographical reasons, are isolated. It is not easy to obtain the basic minimal equipment to play football when you live in the Andes mountains, on an island in the Pacific Ocean or at the end of the world. We hope that receiving quality equipment and meeting a football icon, will result in a passion for football among these boys and girls.

Project activities

Gifts

We get in touch with each municipality, to present the project to the local sports authorities. They then give us the shoe sizes of the children who are to receive football boots.

With this information, we will buy the 300 pairs of shoes and the 300 footballs from adidas.

We put the gifts into boxes, to ship them to the different locations.

Icon

We use our strong network in the Chilean football world to decide which former player can generate the greatest reaction from the community. It might be best to take different former players to each location. Ultimately what is important is the bond that the player can create with the children in the various locations.

Before we travel, we get together with the icon, in order to hear the positive values that they have learned from football and how they apply them to everyday life. This information will be used to create a PowerPoint presentation that will be used during the visits.

Two members of Fundación Ganamos Todos and the football icon will travel to the community.

Festival

With the help of the local authorities, we organise a football festival so the children can enjoy the gifts that they have received straight away. The focus will be on participation and the happiness and opportunities created by practising football.

Expected results

Bring football and joy to isolated communities with a large indigenous population.

Partner

Football Friends – Together is ok !

Location and general information

Closed
Location Bosnia and 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

Health 360: football for a protected community

Location and general information

Ongoing
Location Lusaka, Zambia
Start date 01/31/2022
End date 07/31/2023
Cost of the project €136,300
Foundation funding €63,300
Project identifier 20210991
Partners Red Deporte, City of Hope
Categories Access to Sport - Employability - Gender Equality - Infrastructure and equipment - Personal development

Context

Red Deporte has been working in Zambia since 1999, in schools and sports spaces, as they are the meeting points for children and teenagers. Health 360 makes use of the popularity of football as a platform to promote health among the most vulnerable population in Zambia, one of the countries with the worst health and inequality indices in Africa. For example, the HIV/AIDS infection rate among women is 16%, double that among men (UNAIDS, 2019). The target group for this project is children and teenagers, with a special focus on empowering young women. The project also promotes support actions in Spain, such as recruiting health volunteers and educators, and generating support for sustainability among football entities.

Project content

Health 360 aims to open a community sports centre that promotes and coordinates the football for health programme among 16 community schools in Lusaka and Mansa. Health promotion is viewed in three dimensions, each with its corresponding curriculum:

  1. Basic hygiene and prevention of infectious diseases such as COVID-19, HIV/AIDS and malaria
  2. Prevention of abuse of substances such as alcohol and drugs
  3. Life skills: raise awareness of the importance of good health for school success and future working life

Objectives

Overall goal: Guarantee the right to health of children and young teenagers in vulnerable situations

Specific objective: Create a football programme to promote community health that empowers, provides healthcare, reduces the risk of disease and prevents harmful habits in 4,500 children and young people.

Project activities

  • Construction of the sports centre
  • In Zambia, training of monitors and trainers; in Spain, recruiting and training volunteer health personnel to work in Zambia
  • Weekly programme of sport and educational activities and regular festivals; coordination with 16 educational centres in the network.
  • Healthcare in community health centres and medical check-ups in schools
  • Dissemination of results of football for development among public-private entities

Expected results

  • Strengthened self-efficacy against infectious diseases such as COVID-19, HIV/AIDS and malaria, basic hygiene and prevention of substance abuse
  • Consolidated network of 30 educator-coaches and 24 school teachers who work in educational and youth centres in Lusaka and Mansa with football as a health promotion tool
  • Increased coordination, participation, content and organisation of the football programme for community health in the 16 educational centres
  • Improved health care for 800 children and young people in four community health centres

Partner

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

Clarkston Garden FC

Location and general information

Ongoing
Location Clarkston, USA
Start date 01/01/2022
End date 12/31/2022
Cost of the project €59,435
Foundation funding €29,155
Project identifier 20210409
Partners Soccer in the Streets
Categories Access to Sport - Conflict victims - Gender Equality - Infrastructure and equipment - Personal development

Context

Since the mid-1990s, the American town of Clarkston in Georgia has been the resettlement point for thousands of displaced persons from around the world, earning it the title of the ‘Ellis Island of the South’. Soccer in the Streets uses football as a common language to help displaced youngsters integrate into society.

Clarkston’s Garden FC project builds on this common language and helps youth – especially girls – become young leaders who can contribute to a healthy and equitable community.

Project content

The Garden FC project uses community gardens located at the football pitch as a hub for activities that enable young people to establish a relationship between sport, nutrition, food security and community well-being. Football training includes on-field leadership activities. After training, youngsters and their families cultivate the gardens together and are able to enjoy the food they harvest. A differentiated experience for girls addresses specific challenges they face both on and off the field.

Objectives

  • Give displaced youngsters access to football
  • Educate players on the link between nutrition, physical activity and well-being
  • Teach players how to grow their own food
  • Build youth leadership capacity
  • Create differentiated experience for girls

Project activities

  • Football training sessions
  • In-practice leadership sessions with a focus on the girls
  • Nutrition workshops
  • Gardening training
  • Community gardening events

Expected results

  • 150 players take part in football sessions
  • 30% of players complete the nutrition and well-being curriculum
  • 100% of girls receive leadership sessions
  • 35% of players show improvement in self-management and relationship skills

Partner

Line Up, Live Up !

Location and general information

Ongoing
Location Kyrgyzstan, Bichkek
Start date 01/10/2022
End date 08/10/2022
Cost of the project €44,542
Foundation funding €44,452
Project identifier 20210649
Partners Institute for Youth Development
Categories Access to Sport - Children with disabilities - Personal development

Context

Physical education is vital for development and contributes to physical, social and mental health. Unemployment and the lack of leisure activities negatively affect teenagers and encourages antisocial behaviour. However, the very same teens who take the path of illegal activities have high leadership potential and are able to mobilise their peers. By harnessing this potential, it is possible to have a positive impact on their social environment.

Project content

The project aims to develop life skills through the use and promotion of football, to encourage responsible behaviour and produce greater resistance to crime, drug use and violence among young people aged 13 to 18 in Bishkek and Chui oblast. Sport provides both boys and girls with a positive experience and helps to build a sense of cohesion, commitment and support by fostering positive changes in their relationships.

Objectives

  • Encourage positive behaviour among young people through their involvement in football and sport in general
  • Promote sport for a healthy lifestyle among young people
  • Encourage marginalised youngsters leading an antisocial lifestyle to take up sport

Project activities

  • Community meetings with school administrators and community bodies to discuss launching the Line Up, Live Up project
  • Set up a team of coaches to run the project
  • Form football teams in schools and conduct workouts with a coach
  • Hold a football tournament

Expected results

  • Reach at least 6 municipalities in the Chui region and Bishkek
  • At least 12 schools in target municipalities are involved
  • At least 240 schoolchildren aged 13-18 take part in the project, at least 30 of whom are from a marginalised group
  • Coaching team comprises at least 12 people

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

Growing up with dignity

Location and general information

Ongoing
Location Madagascar
Start date 02/01/2022
End date 06/30/2023
Cost of the project €189,354
Foundation funding €75,742
Project identifier 210951
Partners Grandir Dignement
Categories Access to Sport - Children with disabilities - Gender Equality - Infrastructure and equipment - Personal development

Context

In Madagascar, the detention conditions of the approximately 950 incarcerated children are extremely precarious and detrimental to their proper development. Their basic needs (food, health and hygiene) are not even minimally met. Children are regularly victims of serious violence from prison officers, who are often unaware that children have rights. Finally, there is virtually no preparation for their socio-educational reintegration.

Project content

The project will run for 18 months and support 400 children (girls and boys) in six jails and 100 children living in two Grandir Dignement post-incarceration centres or supported by social workers. The aim is to provide educational, sports, literacy and occupational training activities, to improve their detention conditions and socio-educational integration so that they can live independent lives when they are released. The project involves daily contact with activity leaders, educators and trainers, six days a week both inside and outside prisons.

Objectives

  • Improve the detention conditions and socio-professional integration of incarcerated children.
  • Provide 400 incarcerated girls and boys with sports/educational activities and occupational trainingHelp
  • 100 children or teenagers to reintegrate into society after their release
  • Educate families and prison officers about children's rights, educational topics and gender issues
  • Raise awareness among the general public to combat stigmatisation

Project activities

Objective 1

  • Educational activities: (i) social and educational support (individual interviews for newcomers, individual information sheets, monthly individual interviews and weekly educational schedules), (ii) home and family visits to involve the families in the process and (iii) life project’ building and preparation for social reintegration.
  • Sport and cultural activities to improve well-being : (i) artistic and cultural activities and (ii) sports activities.
  • Occupational training and literacy relevant to the life project: (i) literacy activities and (ii) occupational training.

Objective 2

  • Educational activities : (i) educational support, (ii) home and family visits and (iii) life project building and preparation for social integration.
  • Sport and cultural activities: (i) artistic and cultural activities, (ii) sports activities and (iii) sports tournaments with other organisations.

Objective 3

  • Raise family awareness of educational and social issues : (i) identify topics for family workshops and (ii) workshops.
  • Raise awareness of educational and social issues among prison staff and social workers: identify topics for workshops and (ii) workshops.

Objective 4

  • Establish dialogue with the communities and local authorities to combat stigmatisation: (i) meetings with judiciary and ministry of justice officers and (ii) meetings with local organisations, local authorities and community leaders.
  • Raise awareness among the population to combat stigmatisation: (i) run an awareness communication campaign and (ii) distribute an awareness media release.

Expected results

Objective 1

  • 400 incarcerated children given support
  • Increase activities in prison: (i) 1 session of artistic and cultural activities per week/prison and (ii) 2 sessions of sport, literacy activities and occupational training per week/prison
  • 80% of families visited

Objective 2

  • 100 children receive support after their release
  • 50 children involved in tournaments with other organisations
  • 80% of families visited

Objective 3

  • 36 workshops with families: quarterly in six jails
  • 36 workshops with prison staff: quarterly in six jails
  • 6 topics for workshops with families and prison staff

Objective 4

  • 18 meetings with judiciary and ministry of justice officers: half-yearly in six localities
  • 18 meetings with local organisations, local authorities and community leaders: half-yearly in six localities
  • 6 radio awareness campaigns broadcast three times each in two localities
  • 12 awareness press releases distributed three times each in four localities

Partner