EFDN Highlights: October 2022

EFDN Highlights: October 2022

As 2022 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 highlights from October.

More Than Football Congress

European Football for Development Network (EFDN) and the Eredivisie CV (ECV) jointly organised the ‘More than football congress’ on 18 October 2022. The event took place at De Galgenwaard, FC Utrecht’s stadium.

The congress highlighted the impact that the Eredivisie league clubs (can) have in society, from various perspectives such as governments, businesses and sports organisations. Cooperation between these parties is essential to successfully tackle social issues in terms of sustainability, inclusion and creating a healthy(er) society.

The name ‘More than football’ refers to the More than Football Foundation, which between 2004 and 2014 put the social function of paid football organizations on the map, strengthened and expanded it. Since the dissolution of the foundation, no congress has been dedicated specifically to ‘CSR’ in professional football, so the naming can be seen as recognition of the foundation’s valuable work.

Throughout the day, participants listened, learned and participated in various forms of knowledge sharing. The opening by Ton Strooband (EFDN) and Jan de Jong (Eredivisie CV) set the tone for the rest of the day.

“Alone you go faster, but together you get further”

Jan de Jong, Eredivisie CV

From here the presentations started; presentations by experts such as Niko Roorda, panel discussions on the cooperation between the private and public sector within football and sport, interviews with project participants and break-out sessions discussing various topics.

The break-out sessions were an excellent opportunity for the presenters to elaborate on what they did within their organisations. Here is a brief summary of what was discussed in some of the break-out sessions:

Tackling racism & discrimination (KNVB): Inclusive organisations deliver better performance, have a better reputation and image and greater engagement of employees, members and supporters. Under the banner Ons Voetbal Is Van Everyone, football is working to create a football landscape where everyone feels welcome.

MDT: During MDT, young people aged 15 to 27 learn to discover their talents, work on work skills and meet new people. In this way, you will better discover which study suits you and what kind of work you want to do. During this session, the speakers were happy to introduce participants to how professional football clubs like MDT locations guide thousands of young people in the Netherlands in their development.

EuroFit: EuroFIT is a 12-week lifestyle programme especially for supporters of professional football clubs who want to eat healthier and exercise more. The attraction of the club ensures participation and motivation. And with success: international scientific research has shown that participants lose weight, take more steps, eat more fruit and vegetables, show an improved blood count and score higher on well-being.

Sustainability: the urgency is high, we are already playing in injury time. Everyone needs to take action. Better, smarter, faster, more. So does sport. Sport is a small player with a big voice on this subject. During this break-out session, More2Win took participants through the steps that professional football in the Netherlands is currently taking to become more sustainable. Germany’s Bayer Leverkusen 04 is ahead of us and took participants through the steps they have already taken towards a more sustainable, future-proof business model.

Thanks in part to the large turnout, the day was a great success: many ideas were exchanged, connections made and a picture painted of what the social impact of football can be. The future is bright as long as everyone in football works together for a better future. EFDN and the Eredivisie CV together with all participants at the conference showed that we are #morethanfootball.

“Football clubs are an extension of society”

Jan de Jong, Eredivisie CV

Rangers FC changes lives around

Rangers FC programme “Recovery Drop In” involves giving those who have begun a new journey post addiction with the chance to continue to access peer support following completion of the course. Recovery Drop In provides a safe and friendly place to meet and sessions are free and open to anyone who is recovering from addiction. 

Thirty years of drug and alcohol abuse and time behind bars had left Josh McDougall addicted, isolated and contemplating taking his own life. With his mental health at an all-time low and no family to turn to, life was beginning to weigh heavily on this Glasgow man’s shoulders.

But a visit to the Recovery Drop In at Ibrox kicked off a remarkable journey for Josh who was spiralling “in a state of hopelessness”. Fortunately, he bumped into an old friend in 2018 who had been attending the Rangers Charity Foundation Recovery Drop In at the Ibrox Community Hub – a free, safe and friendly place open to anyone, who is recovering from addiction.

“I suffered depression and low moods, I had no confidence or self-esteem.”

“I felt like ending my own life on a daily basis as I never saw a way out of the horrible place I had got to through the years of drug and alcohol abuse.”

“But the first night at the Recovery Drop In gave me a glimmer of hope. I met other people that night with experience of addiction. They welcomed me, they listened to me and told me how they had managed to beat their addiction. They were empathetic and, most importantly, did not judge me and it was a safe and friendly environment to be in and it was easy to access.”

“With the hope that this gave me and encouragement from staff, I decided that I was going to start attending the Drop In on a weekly basis.”

Josh McDougall

Now, at the age of 45, Josh is part of the committee of volunteers who help run the Drop In sessions every Monday evening and put on activities such as table tennis, bingo, quizzes and video game consoles. Attendees are welcome to tea, coffee and biscuits and free internet access and can also take part in recovery meetings.

Use of the Ibrox Community Hub’s facilities and resources also enables attendees to work with staff to educate themselves and build their CVs to help find employment.   

And thanks to the Recovery Drop In and his own determination, Josh was recruited by South Community Recovery Network (SCRN) as a recovery support worker. Josh continues to be part of its Ibrox Community Recovery Team, using his experiences to aid those suffering from similar struggles he fought years to overcome.

“What I enjoy most about the programme is the options of support available and the opportunities that were offered to me through the Rangers Charity Foundation.”

“The programme has helped me massively in my recovery journey. Not only was l supported with my addiction and mental health issues, but l was also given opportunities to educate myself.”

“The staff have supported me and helped me work on my own personal development by offering myself and others the chance to take part in the training opportunities. This was very important to me as I was working on building my own CV to get me in to future employment, which now I have been successful in achieving.”

“Due to all the support I received from staff and peers at Ibrox, it was important to me to still be part of it so I can offer the support to others who walk through the door for the first time.”

Josh McDougall

Club Brugge Scoring for Health

36 classes from 12 schools in the Bruges region entered the ‘Scoring for Health’ Foundation project this school year. The Club Brugge Foundation team visited all participating classes to offer a healthy and varied breakfast.

On Wednesday 5th of October, the Club Brugge Foundation team brought a healthy breakfast to the participating classes of Scoring for Health. Two of the 15 lessons in this health program are about healthy breakfasts.

First, the children learnt what a healthy breakfast is through the manual and in the lesson afterwards they put this into practice by eating a healthy breakfast together in the classroom. You can enjoy fresh brown bread, cheese shells, yogurt, granola, semi-skimmed milk and much more.

“In this way, the children not only learn what healthy food is in theory, but experience it in practice through the healthy breakfast in the classroom and are able to remember it better. They also learn to eat other things, discover new flavors and hopefully keep these. make healthy choices in the future too.”

Barbara, project leader Club Brugge Foundation.

“The students loved it! They enjoyed the healthy delicacies, especially the Greek yogurt was a hit. You could see the children enjoying the social gathering . Great initiative!”

Participating teacher