The Football Welcomes initiative, delivered in partnership with Amnesty UK, celebrates the role football can play in bringing people together with the aim of creating more welcoming communities for refugees.
Football plays an important role in helping people feel safe and providing a sense of belonging in a new country, and the initiatives delivered by the Brentford FC and Brentford FC Community Sports Trust ensure that all our participants feel welcomed into the community.
Football Welcomes also celebrates the contribution players with a refugee background make to the beautiful game, and the positive role football can play in bringing people together and creating more welcoming communities.
Throughout April, football clubs across the UK have been uniting to welcome refugees and people seeking asylum. On Saturday some of the Trust’s participants from refugee backgrounds will be in attendance at the Gtech Community Stadium as the Bees take on Nottingham Forest.
For Brentford, this is part of an ongoing commitment to support refugees in west London. As part of the Brentford Welcomes initiative the Club and Trust have delivered several programmes and events to support refugees over the last 12 months. Highlights have included the Refugees Welcome Hounslow Christmas gathering at the Trust’s Community Stadium Hub. The event was attended by 55 refugees from countries in the Middle East and Africa including Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Democratic Republic of the Congo and Sudan.
In collaboration with local Home Office hotels the Trust delivers free weekly fitness sessions for males and females on-site. In addition to this, free gymnastics and multi-sport sessions have been delivered at Gunnersbury Park Sports Hub to help connect the local community.
Looking ahead, there are a number of new initiatives kicking off next month including social cafes and low impact fitness classes for women. For more details on all of these head over to the Trust website.
Brentford FC is committed to uniting people on and off the pitch, recognising that football can play a hugely important role in helping refugees settle into a new country and culture, to making friends, learning the language and getting to know the local area.