One team, one dream

By Osama, Youth Influencer

Everybody wants to live in a community where they are respected and safe. Football is a crucial part of helping refugees who have fled conflict and persecution integrate into a new culture, establish friends, learn the local language and become familiar with their surroundings.

Our football programmes in Canterbury, Folkestone and Ashford honour the contributions that young people with refugee backgrounds make to the game, as well as the constructive role they play in fostering intercultural understanding and more inclusive neighbourhoods. Our young refugees and asylum seekers are all welome to join our amazing football sessions: they are for them and by them. 

While watching sports brings our people together, playing sports is a natural way to connect with friends, coworkers and even strangers. Sport is a great way to prevent too much time being spent on screens, which can undermine real-world connections. When you play as a team - or even just against one another - comradery (or friendly competition!) takes precedence and the screens are put aside.

Making connections with people who are not very familiar with us, however, is sometimes quite challenging. Yet it is important to be able to connect with people who have different strengths from us. This could be via a smile, a laugh or a giggle while playing and chasing the ball, or chasing the comfort that enables them to be who they are.

Before and throughout the migration process, in camps, and during resettlement, refugees undergo trauma and encounter extremely challenging situations. These psychological stressors significantly raise the likelihood of developing a variety of mental health conditions. Sport can improve your physical and mental health and the connections you build on the field typically last off it. Football's positive effects on both physical and mental health have even been connected to players living up to 10 years longer.

Former England footballer and renowned sportscaster Gary Lineker has been a vocal advocate for refugees, using his platform to raise awareness of their struggles and the importance of inclusivity. We hope our football programme resonates with Gary’s values and that he too can see the power of the game in transforming the lives of young refugees and asylum seekers.