Foundation
"Welcome to football" given chance to attend game
The BVB foundation "leuchte auf" has been involved in the ""Welcome to football" (Willkommen in Fußball) project since 2015. The project, which was launched nationwide by the DFL foundation, aims to facilitate the integration of young refugees. A few weeks ago, 50 of the participants were invited to attend a Bundesliga home game at Signal Iduna Park.
"Welcome to football" is a project of the German Children and Youth Foundation that was launched and promoted by the DFL foundation and federal government commissioners for migration, refugees and integration.
Thanks to the project and the involvement of Dortmund-based cooperation partners such as "leuchte auf", TSC Eintracht Dortmund e.V. and "Project arrival" (Projekt Angekommen) of the Walter Blüchert Foundation, a group of young refugees in Dortmund have the possibility to take part in a weekly football training session This is directly followed by a German language course and preceded by a lunch during which the participants can build their reserves ahead of training and the German course.
In 2018, the project was expanded to include a sports course intended specially for refugee girls and women. The main focal point here is on introducing different types of sport with training sessions that change on a monthly basis. The purpose is to build the self-confidence of the participants and remove possible barriers preventing them from accessing sport and leisure activities. One thing the two offers have in common is that they improve access to sport via low-threshold courses and, on top of that, promote integration and social interaction.
There was real excitement as the project participants attended the match against VfL Wolfsburg. Accompanied by their project coaches and supervisors, the group joined all the BVB fans in the stadium in celebrating the last-minute victory courtesy of two goals from our striker Paco Alcácer.
Comprehensive info on "leuchte auf" can be found at: