Sport

The football team that helps refugees find their place in England

Reading (UK), Mar 8 (EPA-EFE).- (Camera: Neil Hall) For refugees and asylum seekers, starting a new life in the UK presents a number of difficult challenges, from learning the language to finding common ground with the locals.And that is why Sactuary Strikers Football Club was born, a soccer team that seeks to bring cultures closer together, integrate and foster a cohesion between communities that will lead to great friendships and conversations so that no one feels alone.FOOTAGE OF THE FOOTBALL TEAM, PLAYING AND TRAINING IN READINGSOUNDBITES OF TOMSON CHALKE, FOUNDER OF THE TEAMTRANSLATION"Sanctuary Strikers is a project that we started to promote integration and cohesion between communities. As a personal story I realized that I needed friends for being part of a minority community and sometimes if you have something like soccer, which people have fun with, people come to you and you can start to have a conversation. When we start talking, that's when we establish conversations, we learn about each other's cultures, we share who we are and where we come from. That is what we are trying to promote. We are affiliated with a group of refugees. I work as a volunteer there. And it is where we realized that people need help to learn, speak English and also make friends."Soccer is a beautiful sport that brings people closer together and promotes our vision at Sanctuary Strikers, which is community cohesion, integration. We learn from each other, there is no discrimination in soccer. There are no borders in soccer, unites nations, we are all one. Regardless of color, race, culture. It is a beautiful sport that unites people. With football we all smile, and we end up talking to each other. After the game when we hit each other hand in hand, we support each other to do better. That's what we want. "