Football for all
Kick It Out is working with community groups all over the country.
Groups needs range from requiring support with events they are organising to raising awareness of issues relevant their community, advice on funding applications to improve playing facilities.
Here are a few case studies of groups that have been working with Kick It Out, using football as a tool for positive change.
Debden United
In the June '04 local elections 3 BNP councillors were elected in Debden, Essex. The BNP had leafleted on the issue of refugees in the area alleging an unfair allocation of resources.
After the campaign the area saw an increase in race hate crime with young people involved in racially aggravated nuisance activities, targeting minority shopkeepers and pensioners. The homes of the few asylum seekers that had been settled in the area were attacked.
The local authority, Epping Forest council, teamed up with local youth clubs to use footballing activities in an attempt to bring harmony.
The authority, through its community partners, received a Community Chest grant from Kick It Out for the 2004 week of action to set up an awareness day with a football skills workshop run by West Ham United, along with music and drama performances by youth and school children.
Those interested in football were encouraged to set up a cross- community club, later named Debden United, and train together to increase understanding and harmony. The team has become a focus for the community of young people from different ethnicities who are playing and training together every week.
The project has made a real impact in the area attracting widespread support from other agencies. They have received funding from the Football Foundation to further the clubs development and for a continuation of their aims of working and learning together.
Midland Ethic Albanian Foundation (MEAF), Birmingham
MEAF supports 5,000 Albanian-speaking refugees from Eastern Europe in Birmingham on immigration and social welfare issues.
The group entered a team, Friends of Birmingham, in the Unity Cup in July 2004 in Manchester. Having enjoyed the experience they decided it would be a good way of helping the community to settle into life in the Midlands and of breaking down stereotypes of asylum seekers.
As well as establishing a football team they have developed a number of educational projects working in schools to raise awareness and educate children about the reality of being a refugee. They go into schools with Birmingham City's Njazi Kuqi (younger brother of Blackburn Rovers striker Shefki Kuqi) as a volunteer.
The kids are told how Albanians fled here from Slobodan Milosevic and how they are contributing to life in Birmingham.
The Friends of Birmingham football team have sent players on coach education courses and are looking to sustain themselves in the Birmingham leagues.
They are currently planning an application to the Football Foundation for £250k over 5 years after successfully applying for a community Chest grant in 2004.
Apostolic Christian Church (Sheepfold), Enfield
KIO first supported this group during the week of action in 2001, and later in 2003, to hold a football tournament and educational workshops for local young people.
The church, led by Pastor Kyri Yiallouris, wanted to challenge the influence of drugs, ease disputes between young men from different communities and tackle anti- social behaviour by offering a Saturday morning workshop followed by a football coaching session. The sessions are taken by the Pastor and two parents who have taken their basic football coaching qualifications in order to get involved.
The project has been enormously successful and the recipient of a small grant of £9000 from the Football Foundation which has given the group the confidence to seek further funding to continue to their positive community work.
Below is a list of other community groups that Kick It Out has worked with, with links to find out more about them:
Football for all (Bedfordshire)
Toxteth Tigers
Elite Youth
Bristol - This is our journey
One Game, One City
Barnsley International FC
Mandip Mudhar Memorial Foundation
We want to know about the work taking place in your community and how Kick It Out can help. Click here to contact us.
