Find out more
As we celebrate a historic time for women’s football with record attendances and the Lionesses reaching the finals of Euro 2022, another football movement is also helping to spread joy to others.
During the Easter break, Jaaikaran C (U6, M) decided to take action after seeing the fallout of the conflict in Ukraine. The news of Europe’s quick response to accept refugees filled him with a sense of relief. However, this inspired him to show his own support through his love of football.
Jaaikaran explains the idea:
“I understand the importance of sport in mental and physical well-being, and I wanted to do something to bring back the smiles of the displaced children. As football is a passion of mine and one of the most popular sports in the world, I decided to launch the #playforukraine initiative to raise funds to send footballs and kits to refugee camps to provide some relief to the stressful situation Ukrainian children are experiencing.”
During the first couple of weeks, Jaaikaran reached out to many charities in the U.K., Poland, Hungry, Romania and Ukraine, and was able to send out 200 kits to 4 charities: Voices of children – Romania, Caritas Poland – Poland, United Way Romania – Romania and UNICEF Romania – Ukraine.
#playforukraine didn’t stop there as Jaaikaran continued to grow the initiative by setting up a GoFundMe page, Instagram page and Twitter account. He was rewarded for his efforts, partnering with a football manufacturer to make 400 more kits. With each kit sent Jaaikaran also shared a small note from himself to each child.
Since starting the initiative in Easter, Jaaikaran has now managed to raise almost £3000 and has sent out around 1200 football kits, which have included bibs, balls, and pumps. Jaaikaran will visit one of the camps in the middle of August to meet and play football with the children.
Congratulations Jaaikaran, and good luck with the continued work you are carrying out with #playforukraine.
If you would like to donate or follow #playforukraine you can do so here:
GoFundMe | Instagram | Twitter
