Last week City of Sanctuary held a meeting with a number of professional football clubs from across the country and from across all leagues.  Football is an international language and where-ever you come from, if you are given a ball, you will kick it!  The meeting was hosted by the Hub for Education for Refugees in Europe jointly with City of Sanctuary UK and started with a presentation from the Chief Officer of City of Sanctuary and there was input from a number of Ambassadors of Sanctuary during the day.  But the main focus on the day was discussion among clubs present to look at what people were already doing, what needed to be done and the challenges faced.  Also present were representatives from Holbeck Moor FC whose women’s team have just become a football club of sanctuary.  The desire for change, to be part of a movement encouraging more participation in the beautiful game and inclusion across the board was inspiring in their enthusiasm.

Notts County Foundation were present and Sarah McCamphill, the sport and inclusion manager said “It was very encouraging to see a breadth of clubs being so interested in such a great initiative run by City of Sanctuary.  It is clear there is a real opportunity for football clubs and foundations to play a leading role in raising awareness of the needs of those seeking sanctuary.  We look forward to working collaboratively on this in the future.”

Clubs represented were: Notts County, Leicester City, Blackburn Rovers, Queens Park Rangers, Newcastle United, Mansfield Town and the EFL.