Brighton man launches sports programme for Ukrainian children

The Change Foundation, a charity that aims to improve the lives of "marginalised young people", went out to Przemysl in southeastern Poland at the end of March to start its first project to “give children a little more to do” outside refugee camps.

CEO Andy Sellins, from Brighton, organised a football match that included boys, girls and volunteer helpers next to a former supermarket which has now become the Refugee Centre for Humanitarian Aid. Przemysl will also become the main base for the charity.

Home to large numbers of women and children, along with some older men, it acts as a holding area for refugees who are then bused elsewhere with food, medical attention and supplies all available.

However, there is no sports provision for the children - and very little for them to do all day, as they wait for transit to another country or to another part of Poland. Some have been on the site for more than a month.

Andy Sellins before their football match with children at Przemysl

The charity will run sports camps with coaching and equipment at Przemysl, with the hope of expanding out into other camps.

Andy, from Brighton, said: “It was great to see the kids running around outside and they were fun to coach. I asked them where they thought I was from and one of the cheekier ones said ‘Russia’.

“It will be great to get a team of our brilliant coaches into the camp in the coming days and for them to run dawn to dusk sport sessions and competitions. I’m sure their exhausted mums will be very happy to have a break.

“We are sending our coaches to train up and equip volunteers in the camp and then return every couple of weeks to assess how they are doing, deliver more equipment and use the money we have raised for the project to expand into other camps.”

For more information, visit their Ukraine refugee sports project fundraiser.