Football Beyond Borders (www.footballbeyondborders.org) is an NGO run entirely by volunteers that aims to use football to tackle political, social and cultural issues.
They are organising a tour to the Balkans this summer (previous tours have taken in Lebanon, Egypt, Palestine, Syria, Brazil and Ghana) to promote racial tolerance with messages through football, one cultural medium which still divides the Balkan countries in partisan, volatile fashion.
The tour will take place from 28th August – 18th September 2013. The group going on tour will be made up of 24 individuals of mixed gender and of diverse ethnic backgrounds. On the tour, they will ravel to Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia and Croatia, teaming up with local grass-roots organisations. These include:
OSCE – Organisation for Cooperation and Security in Europe (www.osce.org)
Belgrade – Belgrade Faculty of Sports and Physical Education, Balkan Alpe Adrian Project
Sarajevo – Bubamara BC (www.bubamara.ba), The Orhideja Stolac Association (orhideja.org/wordpress)
Mostar – United World College Mostar (www.uwcmostar.ba)
Zagreb – qSPORT (int.qsport.info)
They aim to organise multi-ethnic football tournaments to bring divided footballing communities, especially those from rival fan groups, together and preach our inclusive, anti-racist, anti-sexist stance. Staying at the homes of local families will also help us to integrate deeper into the community.
To raise money for the tour, they have been staging events across London, such as mixed-gender football tournaments, and on 25th August they will be hosting a dinner at Russell Square, London. They welcome all interested parties to the dinner, which will be a 3-course meal at £20 per person, including keynote speakers from those closely involved with the tour and the organisation including Jasper Kain, the founder of Football Beyond Borders.
They also have a sponsoring page which gives full, comprehensive details on the tour, including a promotional video on our work:
http://www.sponsume.com/project/football-beyond-borders-leveling-playing-field
They would therefore welcome any feedback or support that you may have for our work, as we are constantly seeking partner organisations that we can work with to strengthen our message.
For further details please see:
Football Beyond Borders – http://www.footballbeyondborders.org
Balkans Tour Sponsorship – http://www.sponsume.com/project/football-beyond-borders-leveling-playing-field
drnickombe 