Want to get involved in Football Welcomes? Here’s how

If you are a football club/community trust:

For the Football Welcomes weekend, get in touch with a local charity working with refugees and people seeking asylum to offer free tickets to a game, a stadium tour or other activity.

If the first team’s opponents on the day have a refugee team in their community programme, invite them to bring the team to play a team from your community programme, followed by lunch and tickets for the match.

Ask the women’s and men’s first team players to warm up wearing Football Welcomes Refugees t-shirts, and post some photos on social media using the hashtag #FootballWelcomes.

Save a page in the programme and space on the website to let your fans know you’re taking part and why, and tell your local media. 

Ask the local charity what support you could offer longer term, such as weekly football sessions and coaching opportunities. 

For grassroots teams, including refugee teams, organise a match or tournament against other local teams and promote your involvement on social media.

Amnesty UK will provide template copy, a template local press release and social media graphics for the weekend. 

We can also provide guidance on how football clubs/community trusts can work with other organisations in their communities to effectively welcome refugees and promote integration. 

Get in touch for info, and make sure you tell us your plans!

If you are a local charity working with refugees and asylum seekers:

Contact Amnesty UK or your local professional club to see if they are participating and suggest you could do something together. If there is an Amnesty local or student group in your area, get in touch with them. Arrange a match or tournament with a refugee team from the charity and other local teams. 

If you are an Amnesty local group:

Find out if your local club is participating and see how you can support their activities. If they are offering free tickets to the game on the Football Welcomes weekend, you could work with the club/community trust to identify a local charity that supports refugees and people seeking asylum to distribute the tickets. Ask if you can have a stall at the match. Working with a local refugee charity, you could organise a match or tournament over the weekend.

If you are a student group:

Get in touch with a local charity working with refugees and asylum seekers and offer to organise a match or a tournament with them. Get your university women’s and men’s teams involved – players can warm up in Football Welcomes Refugees t-shirts and post photos on social media, and if any of the players are qualified coaches they could offer training sessions to local refugee charity.

If you are a school group:

Organise a match or tournament, give out stickers and badges, ask your teachers to use PSHE lessons that week to talk about the experience of being a refugee and how sport can help people adjust to a new country and culture.

Materials available:

‘Football Welcomes Refugees’ t-shirts, badges, stickers, leaflets and posters

Football Welcomes school resource: https://www.amnesty.org.uk/resources/activity-pack-football-welcomes-re…

For more information or to order materials, please email activism@amnesty.org.uk