This article was written by Andrew Hardy, Community Relations Office, Irish FA Foundation. The Community Relations Council support the Irish FA Foundation through its Core Funding Scheme.
Christmas Ball
The first of our local christmas events this year was the Christmas Ball at Saint Simons Community Hub. There was a special visit from Santa who gave all the children a football. During the ball we had face painters, balloon modelling, football games and food.
In terms of our outreach work with the local community, we looked to engage as many sections of the local community as possible. We actually had grandchildren at the Ball and grandparents at Tea-dance (mentioned later in the article). These two events are key in our year’s planning and a great way to get the community engaged in the festival period and stenghen relationships to continue work into 2023.
Christmas Tea Dance
We were delighted to host the annual Tea Dance at the National Stadium at Windsor Park. Lovely Christmas lunch from The Mad Hatter and music from Davy Watson. In total we had 60 local seniors at the event.
The two events were funded though the Stadium Community Benefit Initiative. We worked closely with Greater Village Regeneration Trust to ensure that these events had the biggest impact possible.
Racism Workshop
In November 2022 we had a group travel from Boston, Massachusetts for a tour of the stadium and also a workshop on Racism with Community Relation Officer Andy Hardy.
UEFA Refugee Programme
As part of the UEFA Refugee Programme 4 sessions took place at Olympia 3G over November and December. We also have 16 refugees completing their National Coaching Certificate with the hopes of them going on to coach in the community. Our wider work in this area also sees weekly sessions with a new Refugee League start early in 2023.
Further Information
The Community Relations Council support the Irish FA Foundation through its Core Funding Scheme.
Read more about the Irish FA Foundation