UEFA Foundation for Children publishes Activity Report 2019/20

UEFA Foundation for Children publishes Activity Report 2019/20

The UEFA Foundation for Children published a special edition of their annual report on the occasion of the 5th annniversary of the foundation. Through creative innovation and adaptation, UEFA Foundation continued to give their support to the most vulnerable children and succeeded in raising awareness of the importance of children’s rights, despite the challenges caused by the pandemic. The report includes an administrative update, information about the projects all over the world, the 2020 UEFA Foundation for Children Awards, information about sponsors, and the financial report.

Their records since 2015 include:

• 275 projects funded
• 88 awards presented
• 109 foundation project countries
• 23,900 children living in difficult situations who have attended a match through the foundation’s wish-makers programme
• 40 tonnes of material sent to children’s projects
• 1,180,000 children aged 0-18 who have benefited from the foundation’s support
• 32 newly built or refurbished pitches

Two EFDN programmes, Welcome through Football and Scoring for Health, are also included in the report since the UEFA Foundation is supporting us with funding:

Welcome through Football

Participation in sport is often a young refugee’s first step towards social integration, as it enables them to make friends and to establish social networks. This project relies on seven partners: SV Werder Bremen, Everton in the Community, Fundação Benfica, the Sheffield United Foundation, Shakhtar Social, the Naoberschap United Foundation, founded by FC Emmen, and Apollon Limassol FC. Participants can relieve stress, cope with trauma and learn the local language. The aim is to help their transition to adulthood, with a focus on integration into the employment market.

Scoring for Health

The Scoring for Health project tackles poor eating habits and sedentary lifestyles among school children aged 7 to 13 and their parents. Approximately 2,600 boys and girls will be taking part in this two-year programme hosted by European football clubs. Currently, 1,176 children across Europe have already been directly impacted by the project. As a result, the pupils were exposed to more hours of physical activity per week than before and were also able to participate in sports that they had not tried previously.