Field sports access for 3500 refugees in Greece

 A warm hello to our friends and supporters, 

Here goes Yoga and Sports with Refugees (YSR)’s first field sport access project report.

First and foremost, we would like to extend our utmost gratitude to those who have donated and raised awareness of our work across Greece.

My name is Jamie, and I am the finance and fundraising intern at YSR. Before this I was a volunteer in Lesvos, Greece, with a different organisation. It was there where I first came to see the work of YSR. Having worked on the ground I have seen first-hand the tangible impact YSR has on its community. This pertains directly to field sports as it was on the football pitches that I first met the YSR team and community.

We believe and advocate for sport as a vector in building resilience and improving both physical and mental wellbeing. I personally believe, this is particularly true for field sports as playing as a team in an outdoor space add further benefit to the already enriching experience of sport.

Whilst we remain far from our initial target of €9000, we would like to take the time to thank and share our appreciation to those who have contributed so far. Your donations have helped us a lot this summer as we organised over 107 hours of field sports during the month of May across our different locations. On top of our normal sessions, we also had a few special events this summer. This included a football tournament in Paris organised in collaboration with ISCA. The tournament saw 120 competitors, playing for 8 different teams vye for glory. Lesvos was host to a major beach volleyball tournament in June, where our partners from LKTBF kindly provided our athletes with an incredible trip and dinner.

These tournaments create an even greater opportunity for social ties to be formed between individuals. Friendships are formed and consolidated between games and blows of the whistle.

In the context of people on the move the bond formed between teammates and adversaries on the day can lead to support and solidarity networks being formed all around Europe. This leads back to healthier and happier communities being the key for long term integration.

With that being said, I will thank you again and hope to see your continued support and interest in the organisation going forward.

Thanks for reading! 

Jamie on behalf of the YSR team