EFDN Highlights: December 2021

EFDN Highlights: December 2021

As 2021 comes to an end, EFDN invites you to look back on this year’s top activities, projects, and news stories. Take a look at some EFDN News from December, our new members Gençlerbirligi SK and Fortuna Sittard and other member news, and some of the International Days we highlighted this month.

EFDN Project chosen to be supported by UEFA Foundation

EFDN is proud to announce that Community Champions was selected out of 1,227 applications that were submitted for funding by the UEFA Foundation for Children. It concerns an EFDN project with project partners from the Netherlands, Bulgaria, Greece, Ukraine, Hungary, UK and Spain chosen as one of 67 humanitarian projects to be supported. These new football projects will give even more children in need the promise of a better life.

Community Champions (CC) is a social street football competition for young people aged 7 to 15 years old, organised locally across Europe. The project includes two seasons, with 12 teams in each community playing 10 games per season. Emphasis is placed on the attitudes and behaviours of the participants, more than on their footballing ability. Teams can win two-thirds of their points through Fair-Play, completing social action projects in their communities or attending workshops. The objectives are to:

• Tackle racism, discrimination and violence in sport. 
• Celebrate diversity. 
• Enable social inclusion in and through sport. 
• Promote social cohesion through sport. 
• Promote active citizenship. 
• Promote voluntary activity in sport. 
• Promote involvement of parents and neighbours. 
• Enable social inclusion and acceptance of refugees and migrants in European communities. 
• Enhance social capital of participants. 
• Reduce small street crime. 
• Teach valuable life skills. 
• Promote healthy lifestyle. 

We also want to congratulate our member Shakhtar Social for being selected for funding by the UEFA Foundation.

EFDN STEM Education Football Programme project partners meet online

On the 13th of December 2021, the ‘EFDN STEM Football & Education Programme’ project partners met online. The project managers involved went through different project-related topics such as Monitoring & Evaluation, Timelines, Reporting, Communication, and International Meetings. They also shared their updates on the programme delivery.

Morton in the Community (United Kingdom), PFC Ludogorets (Bulgaria), PSV Eindhoven (the Netherlands), Shakhtar Social (Ukraine), Newcastle United Foundation (United Kingdom), Feyenoord Rotterdam (the Netherlands), Aberdeen FC Community Trust (United Kingdom) and Legia Foundation (Poland) currently implement the project that aims to use the power of football to keep children engaged and committed to learning.

Scoring for Health session at the supermarket with Randers FC

The Scoring for Health project is well underway at project partner Randers FC. The students were excited about being allowed to take the players’ bus the first men’s team of the club takes as well. They were extra careful not to damage anything. “I have never been as excited to be on a bus before,” said one participant.

The students were taking a trip to the supermarket to work with the nutritional labels on products to check for ingredients, calories, etc. They previously learned about what elite athletes put in their bodies regarding healthy nutrition and put their knowledge to the test in the supermarket. That way it’s easier for them to make informed decisions on what they and their families eat on a daily basis.

International Human Rights Day 2021 and Purple Friday

Human Rights Day is observed every year on 10 December — the day the United Nations General Assembly adopted, in 1948, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). The UDHR is a milestone document, which proclaims the inalienable rights that everyone is entitled to as a human being – regardless of race, colour, religion, sex, language, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status. Available in more than 500 languages, it is the most translated document in the world.

International Human Solidarity Day 2021

Solidarity is identified in the Millennium Declaration as one of the fundamental values of international relations in the 21st Century, wherein those, who either suffer or benefit least deserve help from those who benefit most. Consequently, in the context of globalization and the challenge of growing inequality, the strengthening of international solidarity is indispensable. Therefore, the UN General Assembly, convinced that the promotion of the culture of solidarity and the spirit of sharing is important for combating poverty, proclaimed 20 of December as International Human Solidarity Day. Through initiatives such as the establishment of the World Solidarity Fund to eradicate poverty and the proclamation of International Human Solidarity Day, the concept of solidarity was promoted as crucial in the fight against poverty and in the involvement of all relevant stakeholders. 

Member News

Omonoia Nicosia FC is ‘Greening Cyprus’

The 3rd tree planting by Omonoia Nicosia FC of the “Greening Cyprus” campaign took place on the 7th of December in Pseydas. The football players Adam Lang, Thomas Hubotsan and Michal Duris, together with team officials, local residents, and members of the Pseyda Community Council, planted 336 trees corresponding to the seven goals scored by the team in the months of October and November.

Fairest Fanshop among German clubs: Two EFDN members among the top four

Once again this year, the non-profit organisation Cum Ratione took a closer look at the fan shops of the first and second league Bundesliga football clubs. The FC St. Pauli fanshop finished on first place and SV Werder Bremen are ranked 4th.

De Graafschap, Pim & Rein and KiKa fight childhood cancer

The Dutch schoolboys Pim and Rein, in collaboration with EFDN member De Graafschap and KiKa (Dutch: Stichting Kinderen Kankervrij; English: Children Cancer-free Foundation, a Dutch charity foundation that brings in fundings solely for research to childhood cancers) challenge all primary school pupils in their region of the Achterhoek to participate in the special Short Trousers Action. The aim of the action is to draw attention to and raise money for research into childhood cancer.

New Members

Gençlerbirligi Spor Külübü and Fortuna Sittard joined EFDN as our most recent members.