The UEFA Foundation for Children has decided to allocate its €1m annual solidarity fund for 2015 to a project designed to improve communication and education for autistic children in Europe. The project is organised by the International Foundation of Applied Disability Research (FIRAH). Inspired by its innovative approach, which combines technology and new teaching methods, the board of trustees decided to give the project the foundation’s backing so that a greater number of children with autism can benefit from the tools available. The foundation will also support research and development with a view to better meeting the needs of autistic children and their families.
The trustees convened in the afternoon of 23 March in Vienna, on the eve of the UEFA Congress. At this inaugural meeting they elected José Manuel Durão Barroso for a four-year term as their chairman and approved a first series of projects to help disadvantaged children.
VIENNA, AUSTRIA - MARCH 22: The UEFA Foundation for children meeting prior to the UEFA XXXIX Ordinary Congress on March 22, 2015 in Vienna, Austria. (Photo by Harold Cunningham/Getty Images for UEFA)
The administrative and operational responsibility for two projects – football activities in the Zaatari refugee camp in Jordan and the Just Play programme promoting education and tackling child obesity in the Pacific region – was transferred from UEFA to the foundation, which will also launch three projects linked to UEFA EURO 2016 and children’s rights. A fourth project will be organised in cooperation with the International Foundation of Applied Disability Research (FIRAH), with the aim of improving the lives of autistic children and their families.
VIENNA, AUSTRIA - MARCH 22: UEFA Foundation for children board members pose for a group photo as they meet prior to the UEFA XXXIX Ordinary Congress on March 22, 2015 in Vienna, Austria. (Photo by Harold Cunningham/Getty Images for UEFA)
