SCHALKE HELPS! – Project “Sunflower”: Life, light and sun for Ukrainian families

SCHALKE HELPS! – Project “Sunflower”: Life, light and sun for Ukrainian families

At the beginning of March 2023, Schalke Hilft (Helps)! and the “Ukraine-Hilfe GE” campaign launched an integration project for Ukrainian children and young people. Not for nothing did it bear the title “Sunflower”, but because, the national plant of Ukraine is above all a sign of life, light and sun. Under the leadership of Linea e.V., the girls and boys aged 6 to 14 met twice a week for two months – they also spent the Easter holidays together.

In addition to self-efficacy training, the programme included a variety of leisure activities for the participants and their families. This also included getting to know their new home. Together with their parents, the children and young people went on a discovery tour of Gelsenkirchen. During a city tour, a tour of the VELTINS Arena and an excursion to the Nordsternpark, they learned interesting facts about the Ruhr region and their new (royal blue) home.

After the traumatic impressions of the war and the arduous flight to Germany, one thing was also important for the initiators of the “Sunflower” project: to strengthen the children’s and young people’s self-esteem and resilience. In self-efficacy training, the 17 girls and boys learned about their personal strengths through various creative educational and playful activities, and developed useful skills for successful integration. Sports activities such as hip-hop dancing or kicking on the football field rounded off the project. To keep the language barriers as low as possible, two interpreters helped with the interaction.

“Right after the war began, we got involved with the people in Ukraine and implemented a variety of projects for Ukrainians who had fled. It is great that with this offer we have once again provided numerous children, young people and their families with the best possible support for integration into their new living environment.”

Sebastian Buntkirchen, Director of Fans and Sustainability at FC Schalke 04 and Managing Director of Schalke hilft!

“The companies that financially supported “Ukraine-Hilfe GE” wanted the money to be used to do something for refugee children and young people in our city. This was completely fulfilled with the project. At several activities, I was able to personally experience the joy with which the young people participated in the Sunflower project.”

Dr. Jochen Grütters, head of the IHK Nord Westfalen in Gelsenkirchen, who helped develop the project on behalf of the business organisations

The parents also benefited from the project. Through direct contact with the translators and the educational staff, a regular exchange quickly developed. In an informal atmosphere, the parents were able to make contacts, share their first experiences, hurdles and successes in Germany and improve their language skills together. The joint activities also brought the families together and made a lasting contribution to leaving the terrible experiences of the past behind, at least in part.

The strengthening and integration-promoting offer was conceived and implemented by LINEA e.V.. The project was made financially possible by donations from Schalke hilft! and the “Ukraine-Hilfe GE”, a joint action of six Gelsenkirchen business organisations (Emscher-Lippe Employers’ Association, DEHOGA Westphalia, NRW Westphalia-West Trade Association, North Westphalia Chamber of Industry and Commerce, Emscher-Lippe District Trade Association, Gelsenkirchen Business Initiative). The S04 also provided premises, equipped the participants with Schalke jerseys and made it possible to attend a home game of the Knappen in the VELTINS Arena.