Surrey FA invites refugees to play football
They want to use the sport to help them settle into their new lives
The Surrey Football Association recently welcomed refugees to play in a league for underrepresented communities.
Players were welcomed to Meadowbank Football Bank as part of a 'Unite Through Football' scheme which was designed by a partnership consisting of Surrey FA, Surrey Police and accommodation supplier SBHL.
Over 120 refugees from 22 different nationalities were invited to join the project which was launched at the end of September.
"It’s really good for their mental health to get out, get playing and ultimately, it’s good exposure for us to see different communities accessing football too," Surrey FA Equality, Diversity and Inclusion officer Eve Roberts said.
"These individuals would have accessed football potentially in their home countries so to come here I think it really offers a level of familiarity to the refugees in a country that they might not necessarily be familiar with.
"While they wait for their papers and things like that, they’re restricted to things that they can do to get them out of their hotels and see where they live and interacting with other people in a similar situation to them, it’s really important."
It's hoped this scheme will allow refugees to join grassroots teams and potentially get recruited by clubs.
Roberts said: "We’ll also be signposting them to local grassroots clubs as well, it means that they’re not necessarily a group of refugees but more an individual within a football club and hopefully they’ll integrate themselves well within in the community.
"Hopefully we’ll see some of the participants refereeing in the league and potentially coaching the teams as well next season so it’d be really good to see that come full circle and hopefully the participants will be able to sustain the league themselves."