Europe Day – The uniting power of football

Europe Day – The uniting power of football

Today is Europe Day! Europe Day held on 9 May every year celebrates peace and unity in Europe. The EFDN consists of more than 130 clubs, leagues and FAs from 29 European countries. Together with our members, partners and sponsors, we contribute to a peaceful, sustainable, inclusive and active Europe.

More than 10,000 people participated in EFDN programmes so far. EFDN members reach more than 1 million persons per year through their community initiatives. Read more about some of our Pan-European programmes and how we use football as a tool to promote intercultural understanding and social cohesion.

Welcome Through Football 

Welcome Through Football uses a methodology that fosters the social inclusion and employability of young newly arrived immigrants and refugees. Activities promote the quality of youth work, the intercultural dialogue and strengthen knowledge and acceptance of diversity in society. Moreover, the project assists football coaches and youth workers in the development and sharing of effective methods in reaching out to the marginalised target group, in preventing racism and intolerance.

EFDN Youth & Staff Exchanges

EFDN Youth & Staff exchanges allow EFDN members to provide groups of young people and staff from different countries to meet, live together and work on shared projects for short periods. On an EFDN exchange programme, the participants can expect to be involved in activities such as workshops, exercises, study visits, debates, role-plays, outdoor activities and more, while working towards shared themes of objectives.

STEM Football & Education Programme

The EFDN STEM Football & Education Programme is a pan-European project aiming to promote STEM Education amongst European youth. STEM – Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics – is the field that helps children learn how to program, make codes, and understand technological devices. With the support of project partner Sphero and their supplemental resources, EFDN plans to deliver STEM Education programmes across Europe using the power of football to keep children engaged and committed to learning.

Community Champions League

The Community Champions League is a social street football competition organised locally in ten cities in eight European countries, where participating teams can earn more points through fair play, equitable support and volunteering in community activities than by winning their street football matches. The Community Champions League project focuses on the key element of “cultural understanding” to generate and emphasise mutual respect while building trust and strong relationships among participants.

Show Racism the Red Card

Show Racism the Red Card (SRtRC) Europe is an anti-racism and anti-discrimination programme. Show Racism the Red Card utilises the social power of football and the high-profile status of football players to help tackle racism and other forms of discrimination in society. The project aims to raise awareness on diversity, foster social cohesion, and reduce physical and verbal violence linked to racism. Get involved in our campaign and deliver our #DiversityWins programme in your local community.

Walking Football League

In this new project, EFDN and Partners will develop a Walking Football League methodology that provides individual clubs the opportunity to create their own Walking Football Leagues with multiple teams on a local and regional level, which will contribute to the establishment of national Leagues and the European Walking Football League. These leagues will act as multipliers on local, national, and international level and contribute to the professionalisation of this new sport.

Scoring for Health

The Scoring for Health programme aims to tackle the problem of childhood obesity which, as identified by the World Health Organization, remains a critical issue throughout Europe today. With the underlying target of promoting a healthy diet and lifestyle amongst children, their families and wider communities across Europe, the programme encourages children from 7 to 14 years and their parents to adopt a healthy lifestyle and make them aware of the value of eathing healthily and being active.

EFDN Florence Programme

The EFDN Florence programme will provide ill children and young people with the opportunity to become the FAN of the Match from a distance. This initiative will see a first team player take a robot onto the pitch making it possible for a fan who cannot attend the match due to illness to join the line-up, watch the game from the sidelines and join the players after the game during their lap of honour. The programme will start as a pilot with the 18 EFDN member clubs in the Netherlands and will be disseminated around Europe.

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