Shakhtar, Social Alliance and UEFA Foundation team up
Thursday, September 22, 2016
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FC Shakhtar Donetsk, Football Club Social Alliance and UEFA Foundation for Children partner up for the social benefit of children in Ukraine
For many years, Shakhtar has been engaging in social activities in communities in the Donetsk region and beyond. Their “Come on, Let's Play!” project, being launched in 2012, fosters grassroots football in Ukraine, and offers free access for children to play the sport.
With their new cooperation with the FCSA, Shakhtar aims to contribute to efforts towards social cohesion between internally displaced people from the occupied territories and local residents.
Starting in October, the professional football clubs will educate 40 young women and men over the course of 8 months to become social role models in their community. The programme participants will get inspired and learn how to offer regular sport and grassroots football activities for children, bringing together internally displaced and locally residing children.
Football is more than just a game – it is a tool to teach about life skills, to foster dialogue and provide a safe environment for children.
The project is financed by the UEFA Foundation for Children, the Football Club Social Alliance, FC Shakhtar Donetsk and the Scort Foundation.
Pascal Torres, General Secretary of UEFA Foundation for Children:
- We are delighted to support the grassroots programme put in place by the Football Club Social Alliance together with FC Shakhtar Donetsk as we strongly believe that football is a social integration tool for the displaced children affected by conflicts all over the world. Playing together promotes social cohesion, fosters reconciliation and peaceful coexistence within communities and promotes education.
Yuriy Sviridov, FC Shakhtar Marketing and Communications Department Director:
- Ukraine is in dire need of the projects aimed at the development of grassroots football. Training the volunteer coaches to work with amateur teams is an important and necessary factor in the success of this activity. We are delighted to be partnering with the Football Club Social Alliance and the UEFA Foundation for Children. We share the passion for football and the aspiration to get the maximum possible number of participants involved in the game. The cooperation will allow us to train the coaches for over 1,000 children and adults, and this is the major point of the project that we are going to work on together for the next eight months.
The FCSA is a network of the professional European football clubs FC Basel 1893, SV Werder Bremen, Bayer 04 Leverkusen, FK Austria Vienna and Queens Park Rangers FC that have been engaging socially by running their so called Young Coach Education Programme in conflict and crisis regions around the world over the past 10 years.
The UEFA Foundation for Children was established in April 2015 and underlines the ongoing commitment of UEFA to use football and its popularity for the good of society. The project objective is to help children through the sport. The Foundation supports a large number of humanitarian programmes worldwide.