In the city of Birmingham, an estimated 50,000 children and young people live in areas that are in the top 5% most deprived areas nationally. Sport 4 Life UK is an award-winning charity that changes the lives of these disadvantaged children and young people through the power of sport.
It works with children aged 8 to 16 who have struggled at school, endured difficult home lives or developed behavioural issues, and with young people aged 16 to 25 who have experienced long-term unemployment or been involved in the criminal justice system. Despite these challenging backgrounds, Sport 4 Life UK believes that every child and young person has the ability to make a positive change in their lives and to be a success story.
Sport 4 Life UK provides a helping hand on this journey through its sports-themed educational programmes. These programmes help children and young people to achieve something tangible – to build their confidence, develop their life skills, improve their health, transform their behaviour, gain a qualification or find a job – and ultimately to reach their true potential.
AID PLANS
A weekly programme of football and education sessions for 200 young people (including 140 refugees/migrants) in Birmingham. Employability is a central part of the programme, so many of the activities will be aimed at enhancing communication, teamwork and respect and skills such as CV writing and interview skills.
The Tigers Sport and Education Trust was founded in 1990 under the name of Hull City Football in the Community, with support from the Professional Footballers’ Association. It rebranded in 2007 to highlight its charitable status.
Directed by a board of trustees and governed by the league in which Hull City AFC play, the trust’s priority is a high standard of organisation and delivery within the sports development and education sector.
The trust uses sport to tackle a wide range of issues, such as health problems, unemployment and crime, and is a strong and very experienced organisation in the field of using football for good.
AID PLANS
The proposal includes:
weekly football activities for 240 refugees in Hull,
football festivals as opportunities for integration, and
language skills and coach education workshops as additional opportunities for the beneficiaries.
Start Again’s mission is to help young people to increase their personal, spiritual and social development, enabling them to be part of their communities and providing them with a range of opportunities and skills. Start Again:
builds young people’s confidence so they can broaden their horizons,
helps them to socialise and have fun,
inspires them to set their own goals,
provides them with relevant and appropriate opportunities,
promotes healthy living, and
provides them with safe homes and stability.
Start Again works with young people, their parents or carers and professionals to help develop the young people’s aspirations and goals. The young people’s views will be the focal point of the support that is given to them and their community. By providing a tailored package of support, Start Again believes that a young person will be able to achieve their set goals.
AID PLANS
To provide support for young refugees and asylum seekers aged 16 and over – especially those who arrive in the UK unaccompanied by their parents, by offering:
competitive football leagues that serve as platforms for community cohesion,
counselling for participants affected by mental health problems (e.g. depression or trauma),
support with accommodation and legal aspects of immigration/asylum,
courses in personal development and employability.
Sport Against Racism Ireland (SARI) was founded in 1997 as a direct response to the growth of racist attacks from a small but vocal section of people in Ireland. This was a result of a dramatic increase in the number of foreign nationals living in Ireland. SARI’s mission is to support cultural integration and social inclusion in Ireland by using sport, particularly football, as a medium to combat racism, sectarianism, homophobia and other forms of discrimination. SARI organises regular football programmes, annual sporting events, school sports and educational programmes and cultural activities to tackle discrimination and to promote and support cultural integration and social inclusion.
Aid plans
The support of young people from migrant or refugee backgrounds is at the heart of all of SARI’s programmes. Funding is being requested for:
football education sessions at refugee centres,
a football programme targeted at young Muslim girls, and
two football integration festivals, including one on World Refugee Day in cooperation with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.
The UEFA Foundation for Children is supporting a social responsibility project for internally displaced persons, in particular children, from areas affected by the conflict in Ukraine. This project aims to promote the social integration of internally displaced children through football; encourage internally displaced children to adopt healthy lifestyles by doing sport, in particular football; provide access to safe sports facilities; foster personal development through education and training; and raise the local communities’ awareness of the project and the problems affecting internally displaced children.
Football as a social integration tool
The following key activities will be organised to achieve the objectives of this project:
Four football tournaments in cities located near to the conflict zone and in the regions containing the most displaced children;
Three UEFA Grassroots Leader courses for a total of 75 internally displaced physical education teachers
A special course for 50 regional project leaders in 25 regions of Ukraine, teaching them how to interact with internally displaced children;
One year’s free access to football training for 1,000 internally displaced children all over Ukraine;
Excursions for 1,000 internally displaced children, to visit football museums, stadiums and autograph signings with national team players;
Free tickets to national team and club matches for 2,000 internally displaced children (home matches in the period covered by this project );
Participation of 200 internally displaced children in the pre-match line-up ceremonies at national team and club matches
Fundraising and promotions among organisational and individual benefactors and sponsors for the benefit of internally displaced children
Rheinflanke actively supports young people in their personal development to become responsible citizens in society. Their focus is on linking street football activities to educational opportunities. Football activities provide an easy entry point for participants to get involved in the education programmes. The organisation is a social service provider with a mission to create long-term and sustainable social projects for disadvantaged young people, particularly those with migrant backgrounds.
AID PLANS
Programme entitled ‘Learning German through football!’
To target young refugees in emergency accommodation at the former Tempelhof airport in Berlin.
To explicitly target young refugees aged between 10 and 18 who lack opportunities in education and personal development.
To teach football-related phrases as an easy start to learning German.
Emergency relief for vulnerable refugee children and families while they are on the road in southeast Europe.
PROJECT CONTENT
The ‘Balkan route’
The situation of refugees and migrants arriving en masse on the Greek islands from Turkey and heading to western Europe (particularly Germany) through FYR Macedonia, Serbia, Croatia and Slovenia has become a major humanitarian issue. In February 2016, one-third of those refugees were children. Access to basic services (including shelter, sanitation, food and clothing) still needs to be improved, as the flow of refugees and migrants heading towards Europe is not likely to decrease in the coming months. Children and the mothers of young children are particularly in need and at greater risk.
A large-scale emergency operation in FYR Macedonia and Serbia has already provided relief to more than 11,000 refugee families by distributing essential cold-weather items and hygiene products, setting up safe areas for mothers and children, and providing information to refugees and much-needed psychosocial support to the most vulnerable – notably young children. The operation will continue around the transit zones of Tabanovce in FYR Macedonia and Adasevci in Serbia during the coming summer months.
Expected results and scheduled actions
1) At least 6,000 refugee children and mothers will receive emergency non-food items to meet their basic needs in winter conditions. The project aims to distribute hygiene products, with a strong focus on women and adolescent girls, and life-saving winter items. The project will help to prevent outbreaks of disease, while also contributing to people’s sense of dignity in these difficult circumstances.
2) At least 10,000 children and their families will receive protection and support through recreational activities, emergency counselling and activities promoting health. The benefits of recreational activities and children being able to play in a secure environment have been shown to have a significant positive impact in tough situations: play and creative recreational activities help children to strengthen their resilience and deal with stress and negative experiences. Using trained professionals, the project will provide recreational activities to children (particularly those aged three to ten) and their mothers, as well as providing parents with ‘psychological first aid’, health advice and referrals to appropriate services where needed.
3) Children and their families will be able to access information and means of communication in order to be regularly updated on their rights and the risks they face and to maintain social connections with their country of origin and family members. The project will provide access to accurate information on child protection, health issues, refugee rights, the risk of being trafficked, travel issues and access to services. This information will be available in Arabic, English and Dari and will be provided in a timely manner in a variety of ways (such as orally or in the form of leaflets and maps). Where possible, the project will also provide recharging points for mobile phones and GSM wireless devices.
The UEFA Foundation for Children is supporting the Spirit of Soccer project in Iraq, the main aim of which is to use the power of football to educate children about the dangers of landmines and explosive remnants of war. The project includes mine risk education, using educational activities to reduce the risk of injury from mines and unexploded ordnance by raising awareness and promoting behavioural change.
PROJECT CONTENT
Sport as a vehicle for learning
Sport plays a healing role for children forced to live in camps without formal education or social structures.
The humanitarian consequences of violence in Iraq and Syria have been catastrophic, leaving some 5.2 million people in urgent need of assistance in Iraq. Since December 2014 more than 2.2 million Iraqis have been internally displaced, and half of them are children under the age of 18, forced to live in camps without any formal education or social structures. In such environments children are at increasingly at risk from drugs, crime and recruitment by extremist groups. They will also have to one day return to homes now polluted by the legacy of conflict, where landmines, unexploded ordnance and improvised explosive devices will be a constant and deadly threat.
150 local Iraqi and Syrian coaches to reach our objectives
Training will involve a mixture of interactive classroom learning and hands-on field-based activities.
Project objectives :
Teach 150 Iraqi and Syrian football coaches (30% women) the fundamentals of trauma and mine safety:a. KEEP AWAY from dangerous areas
b. DON’T TOUCH mines or explosive remnants of war
c. REPORT mines or explosive remnants of war to someone in authority
d. COMMUNICATE the above to friends and family
Deliver mine risk education through football to 25,000 Iraqi and Syrian children
Recruit 5,000 high-risk, fighting -age men into a ‘anti-extremism football league’
Deliver mine risk education messages indirectly to 75,000 Iraqi and Syrian refugees and internally displaced people
Increase access to football in under-served communities
Objectifs et résultats attendus
150 new football coaches qualified according to professional standards
Min. 90% of coaches report increased skills in football coaching and mine risk education
25,000 children participate in mine risk education through football activities
Min. 80% of participants report increased mine safety knowledge. Reduction in the risk of accidents involving mines and unexploded munitions for children in vulnerable communities
Participation of 5,000 teenage men in ‘anti- extremism football league’
Development of sporting and recreational activities for displaced people
The structure of the Za’atari camp and how it is run.
Context
The Asian Football Development Project (AFDP) and the UEFA Foundation for Children are helping people displaced by the conflict in Syria, particularly children and young people living in the Zaatari refugee camp.
Project content
Organising tournaments
The UEFA Foundation for Children organises football tournaments and other sports events. In particular, it has set up a football league inside the camp. To do so, it set up teams organised into ‘clubs’ and offers them regular training sessions. The camp’s trained coaches oversee all these activities. In addition to playing and spending time together, the youngsters also learn football skills and assimilate fundamental values of sport such as respect, fair play, team spirit and solidarity.
Training local coaches
The UEFA Foundation for Children trains and certifies local coaches – Syrians and Jordanians between 20 and 40 years of age. Most of them already work for other organisations inside the camp and are already involved in sporting, educational or recreational activities. Offering them specific training allows them to develop their skills and will improve their employability, not only inside the camps but also once the Syrian crisis is over, thereby ensuring the continuity of the project. It also ensures proper supervision of the children taking part in the programme and provides them with role models.
Providing equipment and infrastructure
The UEFA Foundation for Children supports organisations that are already active inside the camp by providing equipment for sports activities and training. That equipment is mostly balls, kit and shoes, as well as whistles, stopwatches, cones and technical manuals for the coaches. During tournaments, all the young participants receive water, snacks and a souvenir.
Good infrastructure is also needed so that sport can be played in a suitable and safe environment. The foundation is doing up all the existing facilities. Zaatari already had a dozen football pitches for the children to play on, but they were not always in a fit state and the activities they were used for were badly organised and rarely included girls.
Integrating through sport
The UEFA Foundation for Children has created a specific programme for the refugees based on their needs. The programme is tailored to the Zaatari context and aims to do more for the young people than just giving them the opportunity to play sport. To that end, the coaches receive specific training that allows them to use the benefits of sport to support the young people in everyday life. This training uses a fun and educational approach to address social issues and to focus, in particular, on conflict resolution and raising awareness of early marriages, birth control, the importance of school, health, hygiene and well-being.
Objectives
Engage children and young Syrians (girls and boys) by organising football and other sports activities in an appropriate, safe and supervised environment where they can remain children and have some fun. In addition to playing and spending time together, the youngsters also learn football skills and assimilate fundamental values of sport such as respect, fair play, team spirit and solidarity, and are also educated on specific social issues.
Train Syrian football coaches and referees, teaching them how to run football coaching sessions but give them also the skills to organise a league and run football clubs. Specific classes focus on refereeing.
Integrate a specific life-skills curriculum based on the context and needs. The coaches learn how to best use the values of sport to encourage the children’s personal development and raise their awareness of certain social issues. The curriculum uses a fun and educational approach to address social issues and to focus, in particular, on conflict resolution and raising awareness of early marriages, birth control, the importance of school, health, hygiene and well-being.
Establish football clubs and a league in the camp. Once implemented, the trained Syrian coaches and referees will be able to run the clubs and the league by themselves.
Provide equipment and infrastructure. Building of a sports centre inside the camp and upgrading of the football pitch into artificial turf providing a reliable infrastructure and safe zone for the children to play. The UEFA Foundation for Children also supports agencies that are already active inside the camp by providing equipment for sports activities and training.
Infrastructure and training material
The UEFA Foundation for Children, in cooperation with the AFDP, has contributed to the construction of a sports centre. Known as the House of Sport, it is a place for social activities, a safe environment where children and young people can have fun and make friends, and somewhere for those who are interested in football.
Since the beginning of the project, 20,000 footballs, 10,000 T-shirts, caps and backpacks, 5,000 shoes and 1,000 training kits (cones, plates, bibs, stopwatches, whistles, etc.) have been distributed for the sports activities.
At each tournament 1,000 snacks and 2,000 bottles of water are distributed.
The coaches have also been fully equipped.
The two main pitches used for tournaments have been fully equipped for football matches.
Ten containers of various material (sportswear, balls, etc.) have been provided by the UEFA foundation.
Football pitch
Pursuing the aim of providing a safe environment for the beneficiaries of the project, the UEFA Foundation for Children, in cooperation with the AFDP and the Jordanian Football Association, has contributed to the conversion of a full-size football pitch to artificial turf with the support of the donor LAY’S.
The work on-site to upgrade the pitch took two months.
Two containers filled with artificial turf, construction material such as geotextile, adhesive, tape, maintenance equipment (including a tractor), and pitch equipment such as goals and corner flags were sent from the Netherlands.
An unofficial opening ceremony took place on 29 May 2017, giving the youngsters the opportunity to start using the pitch.
Figures (July 2017)
250 adult refugees – including 87 women and 163 men – had already benefitted from the coach education offered by the foundation, giving them the necessary skills to become good coaches and therefore to supervise and organise sport and football activities – weekly training, tournaments and other events; 46 are currently working for the project and the others for the other NGOs that are active in the camp.
Experts enlisted by the UEFA Foundation for Children and the AFDP ran workshops on refereeing, trauma recovery, sport as a tool for social cohesion, early marriages and conflict resolution. 54 referees were trained, including 21 women.
Currently, 4,480 children and young people – 3,185 boys and 1,295 girls aged between 8 and 20 – regularly take part in the weekly sports activities and monthly football tournaments supervised by the qualified educators, both male and female.
Monthly football tournaments are organised in the camp. In all, 30 girls’ teams (U13, U15 and U20) and 60 boys’ teams (U13, U15 and U24) have been created – with an average of 20 players per team.
Since the project began, 40 tournaments have organised, amounting to 3,400 football matches.
An average of 1,000 children and young people from 8 to 20 years of age, including 300 girls, take part in the monthly tournaments.
Apart from football, other sports and activities are organised. 450 boys regularly do judo and 300 girls take Zumba classes.
Expected results
An average of 5,000 children and young people – boys and girls aged between 8 and 20 – regularly take part in the weekly sports activities and monthly football tournaments supervised by the qualified educators, both male and female.
Monthly football tournaments are continually organised in the camp, with an average of 1,000 children and young people aged between 8 to 20, including 300 girls, participating.
