EFDN and Dutch Justice Department team up for Football Works Festival
EFDN and the Dutch Justice Department have agreed on a partnership to expand and promote the opportunities for people in prison and ex-convicts to re-socialise in their community through football. One of the flagship events of this new partnership will be the organisation of an annual Football Works tournament inside a Dutch prison, creating a great incentive for people who are currently participating in local football based employability and educational programmes.
On the 13th of June 2019, the Dutch prison “De Karelskamp” in Almelo will be hosting the first Football Works Festival that will be organised by EFDN and the Dutch Justice Department together. The event will not only include a football tournament inside the prison walls but also offers different presentations and workshops from best practice programmes from clubs and prisons that use football as a tool for social development from the UK, the Netherlands and Spain.
The 14 teams that will compete to become the first Football Works Champion will consist of 8 teams from the Netherlands and 6 EFDN teams from across Europe. The players in the teams are all participants or former participants of football based employability programmes that are organised by the Dutch Justice department and EFDN members throughout Europe. With this partnership, EFDN is able to offer six EFDN member clubs the opportunity to participate in this unique event inside the prison walls.
Gerko Brink, Project Manager of the ‘Work Through Sport’ programme of the Dutch Justice Department stated: “We have organised the European Football tournament ourselves for 3 years now but the new partnership with EFDN provides us with the opportunity to further improve the quality of the event and promote our methodology on a national and European level. We look forward to working with the EFDN and greatly appreciate cooperating with them on initiatives that will provide more opportunities for ex-convicts to re-socialise in their community.”
His comments were echoed by Hubert Rovers, CEO of EFDN Foundation, who said: “As EFDN we try to inspire and support all professional football organisations in Europe to be more engaged in their communities. For us, this means with everyone in the community. We realise that it is not easy for football clubs to start programmes with this specific target group but that is just why we have started this partnership. I believe that clubs can have a great impact on the lives of people that deserve a 2nd chance. We are confident that through the event and the additional workshops and presentations we can promote the successful methodologies used by the Dutch Justice Department and several of our member clubs and inspire other clubs to follow their example.”
Any clubs interested in participating can complete the registration form here to register for the event. All costs for flights, accommodation and transportation will be covered by the Dutch Justice Department and EFDN.
