On Monday 17th April, Swindon Town Football Club accepted the EFL Community Club of the Season Award at the House of Commons, thanks to their commitment to supporting refugees as part of Wiltshire Wildlife Trust’s Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Children (UASC) Programme.
Wiltshire Wildlife Trust’s UASC Programme Coordinator, Ali Nott, was invited to a large reception at the House of Commons by Swindon Town Football Club in recognition of the UASC programme’s weekly Refugee and Asylum Seekers football group at the Swindon Town Football Club’s Foundation ground.
The UASC Programme is an initiative commissioned by Wiltshire Council and launched by the Trust in August 2019 in partnership with The Harbour Project in Swindon, working with children under the age of 18 who have fled their country of origin, without the care or protection of their parents, and are seeking asylum.
The programme aims to give the young people a sense of belonging, both geographically and emotionally. It also helps them overcome their trauma by providing them with the opportunity to have fun and make new friends, having lost so much of their childhood. This is achieved through ongoing support, the weekly football group and other events during school holidays such as; trips to the beach, Bath, Oxford and London; activities like bowling, climbing and conservation tasks; and an annual BBQ that sees the majority of UASC’s attending.
The Harbour Project is committed to helping make the football group a success, and offers further support to UASC’s in areas such as understanding the immigration system, the rights and responsibilities of the UASC Programme, British laws, housing options, career guidance and language study.
Attendance at the weekly football group has been consistently high, with an average of 15 refugee attendees each week, even during bad weather and the holy month of Ramadan. The sessions involve a mix of training and games, with two matches held to date.
Ali Nott travelled to the House of Commons reception with Yakob Adam Mohamed, an 18-year-old refugee who left his home in Sudan aged 14. It took Yakob three years to reach the UK, and he has since been attending regular events and activities under the Trust’s UASC Programme. He was one of the first participants of the football group in January 2022, attending almost every session since.
