Welcome Through Football
Big Hearts is proud to be the first organisation in Scotland running the social inclusion and employability project ‘Welcome through Football’.
Funded by the Erasmus+ programme of the European Union, ‘Welcome Through Football’ aims to assist in the integration and inclusion of recently arrived young refugees, asylum seekers and young people with a migrant background aged 15-25.
The project is based on a range of activities promoting the quality of youth work, the intercultural dialogue and aims to strengthen knowledge and acceptance of diversity in society.
We currently run free football sessions on Monday and Wednesday evenings.
Anyone interested to register someone or to find out more, please email scott.ritchie@bighearts.org.uk or call 07552 860 062.
Big Hearts is delighted to team up with the European Football Development Network to assist in the development of a long-lasting, sustainable methodology based on three phases:
- Socialisation to sports: providing different football offerings in relation to their specific requirements, such as language skills or the possibility of trauma.
- Socialisation in sports: working on team structure, giving more responsibility to the participants and offering additional opportunities out with the sports training sessions.
- Socialisation through sports: Focusing on the skills the participants learn from taking part in the available offers so that they qualify for further education in and outside of sports.
As part of ‘Welcome Through Football’ Big Hearts is sharing best practice with 8 other members of the network running the project in their respective countries: AEK Athens (Greece), Everton in the Community (England), Newcastle United Foundation (England), Fundacao Benfica (Portugal), Werder Bremen (Germany), FC Emmen (Netherlands), Sheffield United Community Foundation (England) and KAA Gent (Belgium).
Along with developing effective methods in reaching out to refugee, migrants and asylums seekers communities, the project aims to develop a Practitioners Guide to be widely used by any interested organisations and sport clubs across Europe.
Winner of the Scottish FA National Grassroot Award – “Best Community Football for All Project”.
Big Hearts’ Welcome Through Football received this national distinction from the SFA in September 2022: “a community based project which has succeeded in encouraging Football for All which may include creating opportunities for people from underrepresented backgrounds, disadvantaged areas and/or has demonstrated strong growth in participation.”