The BVB "leuchte auf" Foundation has donated 14,000 protective and fabric masks to the Nordstadtliga. Together with the BVB Evonik Football Academy, football videos were also produced for the kids to watch at home.

The Nordstadtliga offers street football for children and young people in the north of Dortmund. It is organised by the Youth Office of Dortmund, AWO Streetwork and Stadtteil-Schule e.V. and has been one of the flagship projects of BVB's "leuchte auf" Foundation since late 2020. Although it has not been possible to hold the otherwise all-year-round street football league as usual for weeks due to the ongoing pandemic situation, it is nevertheless a major concern for the project's organisers not to lose the contact with the participants.

In the past few weeks, the Nordstadtliga has therefore created alternative leisure activities and, among other things, held a digital FIFA tournament with 14 Dortmund institutions and the children and young people they care for. The tournament was very popular with all those involved, and helped to push thoughts about the Coronavirus and the uncertainty associated with it into the background – for a while, at least. "leuchte auf" provided prizes and the games needed for the FIFA tournament. 

In addition, the BVB Foundation is donating a total of 14,000 protective and fabric masks to enable the Nordstadtliga to provide extensive support to help the children and young people follow the hygiene and protective measures that are still vital. Just in time for the certificate awards ceremony halfway through the year, the pupils at the primary schools of Dortmund's Nordstadt will first receive a Black and Yellow "Nordstadtliga" fabric mask in addition to a medical mask. The fabric mask can be easily placed over a medical mask and thus also contributes to the protection against the Coronavirus. As soon as the children return to the classrooms for lessons at secondary schools, the young people at these schools will also receive the masks they need.

A special thank you goes to the Stölting Service Group, which gladly provided 7,000 disposable medical masks for the children and is thus helping to ensure that the "Nordstadtliga" fabric masks can be worn without any worries in combination with the medical masks.

Let us hope that we will be able to fight the pandemic together as effectively as possible in the next few weeks and that the return to a "normal" everyday social life will be back within reach as soon as possible. Until then, it remains absolutely vital to protect yourself from the virus with masks. All the better if, like the children and young people in the north of Dortmund, you can do so with Black and Yellow fabric masks.

Keep fit at home

In addition, the BVB "leuchte auf" Foundation and the Nordstadtliga have worked together with the BVB Evonik Football Academy to create a range of activities that everyone can do from home. Every Friday, new training sessions will be added to the Academy's YouTube channel to help the kids keep fit while the amateur football pitches remain closed.  The first episode is all about "Ball Mastery". Dario Scuderi provides tips and tricks on how to control the ball well.