UNITING, UPLIFTING AND CREATING SAFE SPACES FOR PEOPLE AND COMMUNITIES SEEKING REFUGE
Launched by Beyond Sport in 2022, the Sport Together Fund provides grants and capacity-building support to non-profit organizations, sports clubs and collectives who are assisting communities facing conflict, human rights violations and climate change disasters. The Fund also supports the transit and host communities where people are rebuilding their lives.
Co-designed with our Expert Advisory Group, comprised of activists, practitioners, athletes, researchers and individuals with lived refugee experiences, the Fund directly supports initiatives using sport to tangibly improve the lives of people experiencing displacement and resettlement.
Why the Sport Together Fund?
By mid-2022, global forced displacement reached 103 million worldwide due to conflict, human rights violations, oppression and climate disasters. Forced displacement is a global phenomenon that affects people of all ages and all walks of life.
People with refugee experiences face political, economic, social and personal challenges spanning housing, safety, employment and trauma. These challenges compound the difficult and distressing experiences they face on their journey to resettlement. Personal characteristics like age, gender, ability, socioeconomic status, educational background, sexual orientation and religion also affect an individual's resettlement experience.
With a strong call to action following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, causing the displacement of an estimated 14 million people, the Sport Together Fund was initially formed to provide direct support to sports clubs and social organizations in Europe using sport to support individuals displaced and resettled from Ukraine.
However, the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine is not an isolated incident. Systemic forced displacement affects people from all continents worldwide.
The Sport Together Fund, guided by the Fund Priorities and Principles and with strategic support from UNHCR - the UN Refugee Agency, supports wide-ranging sport-based leadership and grassroots initiatives that prioritize intersectionality, co-production with refugees, diversity, sustainability and community building.
For more information, please contact [email protected].
STRATEGIC SUPPORT:
FUND SUPPORTERS:
Beyond Sport United 2022 Spotlight:
Coach D on Developing Systems of Wellness in Sport