FC Barcelona Foundation and Red Cross Promote the Social Integration of 235 Children through Sport
The initiative promotes social transformation, well-being and development of children and adolescents through sporting activity.
The FC Barcelona Foundation and the Red Cross have helped 235 children and young people from all over Catalonia this academic year 2022-23 to practice regular sporting activities in different municipalities, thus also favouring their social integration.
In the 2022-2023 academic year, the project has assisted 235 children and adolescents from 7 municipalities in the four districts of Catalonia, such as Amposta, Agramunt, Barcelona, Manresa, Palafrugell, Sentmenat and Terrassa. With the participation of 90 volunteers and technicians from the FC Barcelona Foundation and the Red Cross, 226 sessions and 343 hours of sporting activity have been carried out using games and sport as an educational tool in different formats: games and sports, matches in three halves and spaces for reflection. In addition, 104 children and adolescents were able to take part in a leisure outing to the Camp Nou Museum and attended a futsal match of the Barcelona Football Club.
The SportNet Methodology in the Project
Both the FC Barcelona Foundation and the Red Cross have worked together to respond to possible situations of risk of vulnerability among children and young people. For this reason, the incorporation of the FC Barcelona Foundation’s SportNet methodology into the Red Cross’ children and youth projects has made it possible to promote the integration and development of children and adolescents (NNA), while educating them in values such as socialisation, coexistence, cooperation, communication, conflict resolution, teamwork and individual and group autonomy.
This collaboration is based on a focus on the correct and healthy development of children and adolescents from an integral perspective, intervening in different areas of their lives and also with their families as beneficiaries of the activity.
Therefore, in addition to incorporating the SportNet methodology, different basic needs have also been covered to guarantee the right to equal access to resources, so that they can have the same opportunities as the rest of the children and adolescents who are not in this situation of risk. In order to be able to carry out the sports activity properly, sports material was provided and T-shirts were distributed to each participant as well as by the Red Cross technical team and volunteers.
In addition, complementing the educational work, the basic needs of the children were covered with the delivery of 589 preloaded cards. With the distribution of three cards for each participating child throughout the season, access to food products, sports clothing and appropriate footwear in local shops was guaranteed. Moreover, through the participants of a school with special characteristics, the purchase of recreational-school material was made and two sports outings were organised (skate and scooter activities as well as wall climbing).
Children and Young People at Risk of Social Exclusion
All Children and Adolescents have a series of specific needs for their well-being and correct physical, cognitive-affective and social development. In this regard, it is essential to have a safe, stable and stress-free family environment that can meet their basic material, educational and emotional needs, as well as access to key services such as health, school, sport and recreation.
Children living in vulnerable situations or from disadvantaged backgrounds face additional difficulties in accessing early childhood education and care, as well as inclusive education, health care, healthy food, adequate housing and a stable socio-emotional environment. This means that they start their lives in a disadvantaged situation, which can have long-term implications for their development and future prospects.
According to the October 2020 Observatory, more than 58% of households served by the Red Cross in Catalonia have children and adolescents in their care: 50.2% are a couple with children and 19% are a single-parent family headed by a mother. In addition, 54.3% of households with one or more adult family members have seen their stable income reduced due to the pandemic.
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