An amazing meeting took place for the official start
of the ‘’You’re Hope’’ project in the
headquarters of Olympiacos SFP yesterday. Christina Tsiligkiri, the General
Secretary of Olympiacos and Project Coordinator, welcomed the representatives of
the partners in Piraeus having a great discussion about the further
development of the project.EMCA represented by the General Secretary, Federico
Eichberg, Levski-Sport for all by the President, Lusien Velchev and the General
Secretary, Vanina Milanova while Mette Andersen, the project leader of AaB
participated via Skype.
In few words, ‘’You’re Hope’’ is a project co-funded
by the Erasmus+ programme of the European Union and coordinated by Olympiacos
with the involvement of Levski-Sport for all, AaB and EMCA. The aim is clear:
promoting the social integration of refugees through sports in the local
communities of the partners an increase the awareness of the society. The most
important actions of the projects are the research about the sport preferences
of the refugees and the organization of multisport activities for them with the
participation of professional athletes, coaches and supporters.
In the first part of the meeting, the participants had
the opportunity to discuss further details of the project. First of all,
Olympiacos as the main Coordinator, presented an overview of the project
including the main phases such project preparation, implementation and
communication policy. A special reference was made to the graphical development
and the choice of the project logo. As the Olympiacos representatives
mentioned, this logo represents in the best possible way the spirit of ‘You’re
Hope’’. The life vest is necessary for the survival of refugees during a boat
transfer in difficult weather conditions. Also, the different colours of skins symbolize
the social equality, the different origins of the refugees and of people that offer
their assistance and contribute to their rehabilitation. Finally, the red and
white are the colours of Olympiacos and are also associated with the power and
the passion to assist the refugees and the innocence and purity that
characterize them. Moreover, the partners discussed about the financial
management of the project and their obligations during its implementation.
A delegation of
the ‘’ARSIS’’ (Association for the social support of Youth) which organize
activities in the safe zone of Sxisto, was also present in this meeting so as
to describe their social work related to the integration of unaccompanied young
refugees in the local community of Piraeus. It is highly mentioned that all the
partners accepted with enthusiasm the support of this Organization in the phase
of the collection of data about sport preferences of the refugees. This
cooperation will be very beneficial for the development of the most appropriate
multisport approach of these vulnerable populations.
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