The U’s in partnership with Community360 and Refugee Action provide weekly football sessions for refugees.
Colchester United Football in the Community (CUFITC) are working in partnership with Refugee Action Colchester and Community360 to deliver weekly football sessions on Monday evenings between 6-7pm at Colchester Sixth Form College. The sessions are open to any refugees or asylum seekers based in the Colchester area who are looking to get out and play some football for an hour, whilst meeting new people.
The weekly sessions have been running since Monday 21st February 2022 and have consistently seen groups of up to 15 participants attending. Health and Inclusion Officer at Colchester United Football in the Community, Ed King, has been coaching the sessions and he commented; “It has been brilliant to see the guys develop over the past 3 months, not only developing their football skills, which have been very impressive, but also their confidence and communication skills. I look forward to continuing my work with Refugee Action Colchester and Community360 to keep delivering this programme”. He went onto say “I would like to thank all our partners who have come together to deliver this project, because without them none of this would have been possible”.
One of the partners, Scott Tatum, who is Head of Programmes at Community360, has been key in the restart of this programme after Covid-19. When asked about the programme he said; “We at Community360 work with Refugee Asylum Seeker and Migrant Action closely to help improve the physical and mental wellbeing of refugees within the Colchester area.
We listen to the community to help implement sessions to improve their lives and they are always very interested in football sessions. We have a brilliant relationship with Colchester United FITC and in particular Ed King. This relationship has evolved brilliantly and football sessions have been implemented for refugees.
The success of these sessions have been clear to see and to witness the guys playing football and enjoying themselves has been very emotional. Colchester United Football in the Community run these sessions with the highest amount of professionalism and we are very grateful for everything they do”.
To highlight the positive impact that these sessions are having those who attend, we spoke to one of our ever present participants Zana, who shared; “I send my gratitude and appreciation to Colchester United Football in the Community and Refugee Action Colchester staff, who have created such an amazing football activity for us to integrate into the community and helping us to know each other more and more. In terms of health benefits, it has helped me to increase stamina, improve cardiovascular health and improve muscle strength and tone, whilst also improving my social life. Many thanks to Brother Ed and Colm and the rest of the staff who arranged this brotherhood activity to unite us together”.
If you are interested in finding out more about our Refugee Football programme please email: Edward.king@colchesterunited.net and he can supply you with more details.
To find out more about Community360 Colchester please visit their website: CLICK HERE
To find out more about Refugee Action – Colchester please visit their website: CLICK HERE.