Club Doncaster Foundation host football tournament as part of National Crime Awareness Week

Club Doncaster Foundation linked up with other local football clubs to raise awareness around hate crime, as part of National Hate Crime Awareness Week, as they hosted a football tournament for refugees and asylum seekers. 

Alongside the Foundation’s own team, three other teams were in attendance, Hull City, Barnsley FC and a local team from Sheffield. Over 40 individuals got involved in the 9-aside tournament, bringing communities from across Yorkshire, together, for the afternoon of football, with South Yorkshire Police also attending the event.

National Hate Crime Awareness Week, took place from 11th to 18th October, a national week of action to encourage communities affected by hate crime, to work with local authorities and key partners to tackle local hate crime issues. 

Here at the Foundation, as part of our wider Rovers4All provision, there are weekly football sessions available for refugees and asylum seekers, giving them the chance to come together and meet new people, when they may be feeling at their most vulnerable.

It’s not just the weekly football sessions that take place, it’s other events and activities that give those who attend, different opportunities within the local area. Including last Friday’s football tournament, which is becoming an annual event on the yearly calendar.

Lynn Goodman, Health & wellbeing officer for the Foundation, runs the event every year and spoke of the benefit it has for the local community. “We have a large number of participants that turn up week in week out, whatever the weather, so it’s fantastic that we can host these kind of tournaments, where they get the opportunity to play against participants from other football clubs. 

“They get to interact with other people outside of their local area, create even more friendships and get experiences like this. 

“The participants are always asking about when the next tournament is, the next event, anything that they can get involved in that allows them even more opportunities to get involved in something that they love and bringing communities together.”

Frank has been accessing the Rovers4All provision for just over a year now and had never kicked a ball before getting involved in the weekly sessions. “I’m 48 years old and I hadn’t played football before coming to this country, so playing football for me is a way of interacting with the community,” he said. 

“I think it’s an incredible opportunity to interact with people from other places and I’ve had so much fun. 

“When you come to this country, you don’t know many people around and when you come here, you create a sense of family. Everybody that comes here, we have something in common, so we understand each other. We have fun. It’s great.”

Josh, Active school through football delivery lead at Hull City’s Tigers Trust spoke of the tournament: “Tournaments like this are fantastic. We’ve been to a couple now with Doncaster. 

“Our participants get to see others, they get to mix, they get to catch up with people they may know from previous tournaments, and it’s just nice for them to have that friendly environment where they can play competitive football but in the right way, and enjoy it, with people who are in similar situations to them. 

“It’s the power of football, the integration that happens and it’s all brought together by one sport. 

“Football is one language, it means a lot to them and they really do enjoy it.”

To find out more about our Rovers4All provision, here at the Foundation, please contact fitrovers@clubdoncasterfoundation.co.uk.