Second VOY! League project meeting held in Birmingham

Second VOY! League project meeting held in Birmingham

The VOY! League project partners met in Birmingham (UK) on the 16^th and 17^th of April, hosted by Aston Villa Foundation. The meetings took place at Villa Park and it was the second meeting for this project, the first one taking place in person, and aimed at discussing relevant topics from the blind football project that these partners are working to develop in the UK, Spain, Germany, Ireland, Greece and Ukraine.

Day 1

The partners started the session on Day 1 with an energizer, playing Jenga and learning more about the job they do at their foundations. The meeting continued with James Lowbridge from Aston Villa Foundation presenting the work they do at the foundation, sharing their programmes and areas of impact. Afterwards, Vicky Conde, project manager of VOY! League on behalf of EFDN shared some updates on the deliverables to be achieved by the project partners in the short and mid-term. Aston Villa Foundation arranged a study visit at one of their foundation training facilities, near Villa Park. This complex includes different football fields, one of them being an indoor facility. The session took place at the indoor football field with a local club delivering pan disability activities with children. The project partners had the chance to learn more about this partnership with the school and the activities the Aston Villa Foundation runs with them.

The afternoon session continued with a Staff training provided by UK Blind sport, where there were some guidelines about coaching and background information about blind football and sports in the UK. This session led to discussions about how to proceed at the VOY! League project, when the partners start delivering in September. The day was concluded with some communication discussions, including social media and logo of the programme.

Day 2

On the second day, a short session was held at Villa Park with partners playing FIX IT!, the sports integrity and values game where partners were exposed to different issues they could face while working in sport, helping them navigate these issues when happening to them, including lack of accessibility in sports, which is commonly faced in blind football. To conclude the session, partners covered some reporting and next steps matters, and they ended their time at Villa Park by visiting the stadium and the sensory room.