Increasing refugee participation in sports activities – from the Refugee Council and the Football Foundation

ISSUE 3 July –

December 2011

If you would like more information about how SCORES can support your RCO, call Ezechias Ngensdahayo on 020 7346 1163 or email ezechias.ngendahayo@refugeecouncil.org.uk or penny.mclean@refugeecouncil.org.uk

SEASON’S GREETINGS FROM THE SCORES PROJECTThe SCORES project team would like to wish all SCORES! readers, partners and volunteers a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year 2012.

During the last six months, the SCORES project has made tremendous progress in raising the awareness of the role of sports and physical activities within refugee communities in the West Midlands.

We have run two successful workshops and one funding seminar in Coventry and Birmingham respectively.

Notwithstanding the geography of the region, which requires extensive travel to attend events, SCORES events received unprecedented positive feedback from refugee community leaders who travelled from Coventry, Solihull, Wolverhampton, Stoke-on-Trent and Birmingham.

We would like to thank all our partners in the region for their continuous support and we are looking forward to continuing working with them during the next six months.

Over the next six months, we will continue to provide advice, information, support and training to refugee community organisations (RCOs) in order to strengthen their capacity to develop sports projects.

■ For any queries about the SCORES project activities and how you can access its services, please contact Ezechias Ngendahayo on ezechias.ngendahayo@refugeecouncil.org.uk

FEMALE ATHLETES ‘UNDER REPRESENTED AND UNDER FUNDED’The BBC is being criticised after no female athletes were nominated for the Sports Personality of the Year award 2011.

The ten nominations, all men, were announced in November. A number of female athletes who were successful this year were not happy with the outcome, such as Rebecca Adlington and Keri-Anne Payne. They both won gold medals at the swimming world championships in Shanghai this year. However, Rebecca Adlington, who missed out on the shortlist by one vote, said she believed all ten men nominated deserved to be on the shortlist.

Another female athlete, Chrissie Wellington, who received her fourth Ironman world championship title last month also criticised the list. The BBC creates the shortlist from UK papers and magazines which present their top 10 athletes. The Guardian reported that the BBC will review the nomination process for next year’s award.

Furthermore, a new report from The Commission on the Future of Women’s Sport claims that UK sponsors and broadcasters favour men in sports though there has been an increased audience

Triathlete Chrissie Wellington MBE is a triathlon world record holder and won her fourth world championship in 2011. She broke her own world record in July, recording eight hours, 18 minutes and 13 seconds for the 2.4-mile swim, 112-mile cycle and marathon run. She said women athletes have performed in such a way that they deserved nomination for the BBC award

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BRITISHTRIATH

LON.ORG

Charlie Gamble, National

Development Director of Street

League, talks about how Street

League offers disadvantaged

young people the opportunity

to play football.

STREET LEAGUE was founded in 2001 to deliver football and education programmes to disadvantaged young people across the UK.

Through our structured football programmes, Street League builds the confidence, life

skills and relevant qualifications necessary for moving young people into training, further education and employment. Over the last 10 years 22,000 individuals have benefited from our programmes.

Difficulties faced by refugees trying to access sports include being new to an area, when it is not as easy as you might think to find out about and join a local sports club or team.

There will very likely be a cost attached which might be prohibitive. Because of this, all of Street League’s sessions are

free and they advertise widely for new players.

Street League a ims to include everyone by running f e m a l e - o n l y s e s s i o n s t o encourage more women to become physically active. In order to accomplish this, we employ female coaches, who can be positive role models for young women.

Street League does not currently operate in the West Midlands, but we are hoping to launch there in 2012.www.streetleague.co.uk info@streetleague.co.uk

PROJECT NEWS

THE REFUGEE Council’s SCORES project successfully organised a sports funding seminar at the Birmingham and Midland Institute on 17 November 2011. The event was well attended by delegates representing 15 RCOs.

There were a number of lively and informative presentations which included the Role of Sports and Physical activities by academic, Dr Ian Brittain. He focussed on how sport can help communities to achieve positive outcomes.

Street League explained to delegates how they help and support young people – especially

former offenders – to turn their lives around. Members from LiverWorld Community

Sports shared their experience and success in using sport and other physical activities to build bridges and promote community cohesion in Liverpool.

Finally, Sport England and Birmingham Sport and Physical Activity Partnership provided participants with funding information and other kinds of support available to sports projects in Birmingham and other areas of the West Midlands.

John Ellery, Regional Manager, West

Midlands at sported. explains how

the organisation supports community

sports projects that benefit

disadvantaged communities.

sported. was set up in 2008 with the aim of addressing the need for funding and support to be available for groups delivering Sport for Development projects that have a social or commu-nity benefit to those involved.

sported. in the West Midlands has practical examples of dozens of projects that use sport as a tool to engage with and positively influence the lives of young people. This is never truer than in groups working with refugee communities.

sported. offers a range of services that benefit RCOs in the West Midlands. These include two grant schemes offering groups up to £10,000 in grant funding. We are able to offer one-to-one support to projects through business mentors recruited

from the corporate sector. Business mentors work with community groups to develop processes, plans and budgets to ensure a professional approach to their work.

sported. is working with a number of RCOs in the West Midlands to offer better quality and more sustainable opportunities for their communities. This includes a 24-year-old recently arrived Somali who is offering regular activities to Somali young people in Birmingham. With the support of a sported. business mentor, he has developed plans to see his organisa-tion grow and develop.

A range of services in the West Midlands

15 RCOs at funding seminar

Street League participants meet the England football team during a training session ahead of the team’s Euro 2012 qualifier against Switzerland at Wembley Stadium in June 2011

22,000 have benefited over 10 years

THE RCO SPOTLIGHT SCORES! hears about the sport successes of RCOs

OLYMPIC CAMPAIGN: Giving Is Winning

THE NEW Communities Forum (NCF) is an umbrella organisation with 48 member organisations from all over the world.

The N C F supports member organisations to work on issues such as community cohesion, capacity building, employability skills, social networking, health promotion, advice and guidance, and befriending. The organisation was due to close because of funding cuts but Paul, a former paid member of staff, intervened and began to lead the organisation voluntarily.

Paul believes sports can improve quality of life for refugees and asylum seekers. In terms of young refugees, he explains some are part of families who, because of their immigration status and past experiences, have many difficulties in their daily lives.

He feels that working closely with

the families as a whole, rather than the young people on their own, might not achieve effective engagement, and there is no way they would be involved in sports if other aspects of their lives are not addressed.

The NCF recently organised the NCF Cup 2011. This presented an opportunity for social interaction and cultural exchange.

These interactions led to the creation of a team called NCF Stars. NCF, in partnership with the Refugee Council, also delivered SCORES training to its members on the impact of sports in community outcomes. www.ncfcoventry.co.uk (under construction)ncfcov@gmail.compaul@ncfcoventry.co.uk0247 699269207958 301798

THE UNITED Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the London Organising Committee for the Olympic Games (LOCOG) along with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) are asking organi-sations and individuals to donate sports and casual clothing to refugees and asylum seekers around the world.

The UNHCR will dispense the donated items to refugee camps. At the campaign’s launch in Durban, IOC President Jacques

Rogge said: “This campaign is an excellent example of how sport can bring joy to people living very difficult lives, as well as to people who give.

Let’s make a difference to the lives of thousands of men, women and children, just like sport has made a difference to our lives.”

This campaign began at the

2004 Athens Olympic Games and continued at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.

In Athens, 30,000 pieces of clothing, and in Beijing, 75,000 were

donated by athletes, National Olympic Committe es , International Federations

and sponsors. The campaign is continuing

for London 2012.www.sportanddev.org/?3456/

Paul Odera, Chief

Executive Officer

of the New

Communities

Forum in

Coventry, talked

to SCORES

about his work

supporting

refugees and

asylum seekers.

THREE TIPS FROM NCF FOR DEVELOPING SPORTS PROJECTS

Involve your community in the planning process

Try to include technical skills in any football training

Network as much as you can – you never know how this might help

‘How sport can bring joy to people living very difficult lives’

Umbrella organisation with 48 membersPaul Odera (standing, left) with NCF members at a recent SCORES training session

Refugee Council is a

registered charity

Charity number: 1014576

Company number: 2727514

COMMUNITY GAMES will support people across the West Midlands to celebrate the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games by organising their own community events.

People of all ages and abilities can try something new, teach others or show off their talents. They offer everyone the opportunity to have their own Olympic or Paralympic experience.

The programme is funded by Legacy Trust UK and began in spring 2010. Legacy Trust UK helps create and sustain projects in the UK that leave a lasting legacy from the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. The Legacy Trust UK funds many national projects as well

as regional projects.The Community Games programme is being

delivered in the West Midlands by the six County Sports Partnerships (CSPs) and Streetgames.

The CSPs offer training to individuals and organisations planning their own Games. You can also access a Community Games toolkit, which contains useful information and advice for Games organisers. Almost 200 Games have occurred in the West Midlands so far.

9Find out more about being a Community Games organiser and download a toolkit. For details on the Community Games taking place in your local area please visit: www.communitygames.org.uk.

Awards for All EnglandTHIS IS a small grants scheme awarding between £300 and £10,000 to help improve local communities and the lives of people most in need.

You can apply if you are a voluntary and community organisation, school, parish or town council, or health body.

Projects funded have outcomes such as healthier and more active people and communities, stronger communi-ties – with more active citizens working together to tackle their problems, improved rural and urban environments – which communities are better able to access and enjoy. For more information, call 0845 4 10 20 30 or email general.enquiries@awardsforall.org.uk. www.awardsforall.org.uk/england/summary.html

The Dickie Bird FoundationTHE DICKIE Bird Foundation offers grants to children under 18 on receipt of their application, to participate in the sport of their choice, to the best of their ability, irrespective of their background, social circumstances, culture or ethnicity and to ensure that, in doing so, they improve their chances both inside and outside sport.

Children, who, through no fault of their own, are disadvantaged, underprivileged, due to the financial situation of their family/guardians or

carers are unable to follow or continue in the sport of their choice, can get help from the Foundation.

The Foundation’s grants help with the cost of clothing and equipment for them to take part or continue in their chosen sport.

They also make a small contribu-tion towards travel expenses within the UK. See the Foundation website for funding deadlines:www.thedickiebirdfoundation.co.uk

INNOVATIVE OPPORTUNITYSPORTIVATE captures the excitement of sport surrounding the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games by providing innovative opportunities for ‘semi-sporty’ 14–25 year olds in a sport of their choice. The programme funds six to eight weeks of coaching sessions to guide participants into regular participation within their community.

Funding for projects to be delivered between April – September 2012 is now open. The deadline for applications is Friday 13 January 2012.

9 Interested and from Birmingham? Please contact: Ashlie.caddick@birmingham.gov.uk

for sporting events such as the Women’s Football World Cup. The report claims that sponsorship of women’s professional sport in the UK was 0.5% of the total spent between January 2010 and August 2011. Men’s sport during the same time accounted for 61.1% of the spending, with mixed sports making up for the rest.

Chief Executive of the Women’s Sport and Fitness Foundation, Sue Tibballs, commented in The Guardian: “Despite some growth in participation over the past five years, 80% of women and girls – half the UK population – are not playing enough sport or doing enough exercise to benefit their health…A nation of more active women, inspired in part by our leading sportswomen, could make a massive difference in reversing this trend.”

9 The SCORES project is keen to support refugee community groups who would like to develop women’s sports projects. For more information contact Ezechias Ngendahayo: ezechias.ngendahayo@refugeecouncil.org.uk

9 This article is an abridged version of original articles taken from the Guardian, BBC and Daily mail:Guardian: http://tinyurl.com/blsdsz9BBC: http://tinyurl.com/brsr7jpDaily Mail: http://tinyurl.com/c4vkg3q

Organise your own Olympics! ‘FEMALE ATHLETES UNDER REPRESENTED’

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FINDING FUNDING