Club Welcome plaque presentation award
The presentation of Club Welcome plaques to conclude our Club Welcome Refugees programme will take place next Tuesday with Minister of State David Stanton TD presenting a plaque of appreciation to five sports clubs.
Pictured: participants in the Show Racism the Red Card Club Welcome programme activities at Booth Road Celtic FC, Ballaghaderreen GAA club and Sligo Rovers FC
The pilot of this programme was completed during 2016-2017 and is in recognition that sport has a big role to play in promoting integration. The five clubs receiving awards have carried out a programme of sustained work which will contribute to integration of refugees within Ireland.
The programme was supported by the Community Foundation and the Ireland Funds and ran between 2016 and 2017. Thanks to support from the St Stephens Green Trust, we will be continuing this pilot programme and develop it as well as increase the number of clubs involved. We will be putting out a call for involvement in the 2018 programme shortly.
The Club Welcome awards are being presented at 12: 30pm, Tuesday 23rd January 2018 in the Carmichael Centre, North Brunswick Street, Dublin 7
The five clubs are: Booth Road Celtic FC, Dublin 22, Ballinacurra Gaels GAA club, Limerick, Ballaghaderreen GAA club Roscommon, Emo Celtic, Co Laois and Sligo Rovers.
-Sligo Rovers delivered coaching sessions freely accessible to residents in Globe House, once a week over 20 weeks. Sligo Rovers not only offered training sessions for residents of Globe house but we also organised fully qualified coaches and also organised friendlies for the residents of Globe House against local grass root clubs in Sligo.
-Booth Road Celtic Football Club hosted an open coaching evening with the FAI inviting residents from the Towers Accommodation Centre and also engaged with residents of the accommodation centre to identify and accommodate access for children in the centre to participate at different levels of the club including the club academy on Saturday mornings for children aged 4-7 and under 8’s to under 14s schoolboy teams.
-Emo FC have provided free access to their all- weather facilities to residents in Montague House and also made a policy decision to allow free membership to their club to children of asylum seekers, in recognition of financial barriers.
-Ballinacurra Gaels GAA club in Limerick engaged with local support agency Doras Luimni and have organised ‘Have a Go’ days specifically with children of asylum seekers and refugees.
-Ballaghaderreen organised a club blitz involving some Syrian refugees (pictured above) and also a trip to Croke Park for the All- Ireland final between Roscommon and Mayo. The club now has Syrian refugees training with the Under 18’s football team.
