Re: Sport for Refugees!

<< Background >>This project was developed for a variety of reasons but most notably to attempt to tackle the issue of social exclusion amongst young people and more specifically amongst the main target group of the project, young people with a refugee or migrant background. Social exclusion can result in difficulty connecting with one’s community, accessing opportunities for work, volunteering, education, etc. and the sustainable attainment of basic needs. Furthermore, the worldwide turmoil of war during the project design phase played a role in its design, specifically the Taliban’s invasion of Afghanistan and the war in Ukraine. Throughout the course of the project, various needs and priorities were addressed. These included the following: the lack of target group specific training for professionals working in the field, an insufficient awareness regarding social inclusion within local communities, inadequate development and promotion of good practices within methodologies which use sport in an educational aspect and the lack of cross border cooperations in the field of sport as an educational tool for the social inclusion of young refugees. << Objectives >>The following objectives were incorporated during the design and implementation of the project:-The creation of opportunities for refugees and individuals with a migrant background which will aid in promoting inclusion and active participation among young people in this typically disadvantaged target group. -The development of sport as a methodological tool to connect with young people, encourage personal development and eventually empowering them to become active global citizens in their new community.-The creation of a groundbreaking training course for professionals which will focus on the unique needs of this target group along with the challenges, ultimately resulting in long lasting personal development of these youth care workers which will be further implemented by each partner organization.- The creation and activation of a network which encourages participating organizations and local key stakeholders, to share knowledge in promoting participation and inclusion of (vulnerable) young people- The enhancement of cross-border cooperation in the field of education, social inclusion and personal & professional development of youth workers at local and European level.<< Implementation >>The following activities were implemented in our project:-3 transnational meetings with project managers from each organization - the Kick-off Meeting in Suceava, Romania, the Mid-term Meeting in Delft, The Netherlands and the final meeting in Milan Italy.-An international training course for professionals working with the target group from each organization in Sofia, Bulgaria to test different methodologies and develop different training modules.-Local Workshops within each organization to further share the knowledge and developments from the training course. The training modules were also tested and fine tuned.-The development and execution of project management and evaluation plans.-Dissemination activities to raise awareness of the project-Local Activities in each country which consisted of consistent sporting activities with the target group, culminating in a joint event within the local community<< Results >>The concrete outputs and results of the project were:- 12 youth workers/professionals (3 per country) followed the transnational training course and received a certificate- From April-September 2023, approx. 25 young people from our target groups per country were actively involved in weekly sport activities within their community which were guided by youth workers. A total of 100+ young people from a refugee or migrant background (16-27 years old) have been actively involved.- 10% of the young people per country have interest and have taken action to pursue work in sport/youth work.- 20% of the young people have progressed to membership at a local sport club.- 80% of the young people that were involved feel welcome and an active part of the community- 60% of the young people return after the initial round of the RE: Sport for Refugees activities and stay involved in community activities.- Each project partner has found future commitment in relation to the project with at least 2 local stakeholders per community.- A unique and groundbreaking training format has been constructed and brought to fruition regarding non-formal education through sport for young people with a refugee or migrant background