Share

  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • Email Us
  • Twitter
  • WhatsApp

By GreaterSport | 07 July 2022 | TAGS: Together Fund, funding, Stories

As the UK welcomes Ukrainian refugees, in Greater Manchester a new sports project is helping refugees and asylum seekers already settled in the region to improve their physical and mental health as well as bring a sense of normality and community to their difficult lives.

The Football Freedom Project is bringing up to one hundred refugees living across Greater Manchester together every week to play football.

The sessions in Ardwick are attended by mainly women but also men and children from African, Middle Eastern and Asian countries. The project has been co-created by local charities Football for Humanity and Refugee and Asylum Participatory Action Research (RAPAR). GreaterSport have helped to fund the sessions, through Sport England’s ‘Together fund’. 

Many of the adult refugees have struggled with their physical and mental health including children. Playing football provides a safe space where they can socially connect and integrate, creating a sense of belonging and healing.  Some of the refugees are living in hotels and for them, particularly the children, the chance to run around in space is very much welcomed.

Alimamy Bangura from Sierra Leone 

Alimamy was a political activist in his home country of Sierra Leone, with a focus on disability, LGBTQ+ and human rights. He himself suffers from a mobility disability. He was detained and held in a dehumanising cell for days for his political views and received death threats, and as a result, he came to the UK and sought political asylum. He now has refugee status and lives in Manchester. As a trained FA 'playmaker', Alimamy helps run the weekly sessions. He says: 

"It relieves our mental stress. We are like a family. It's helping everyone get fit physically but also helps with their mental health. It makes me happy, relieves my anxiety and depression, makes me feel I am helping others, and they help me."

Philomene Mujinga from The Democratic Republic of the Congo

Philomene came to the UK following political persecution in her home country where her husband was killed for his political views. She played football as a child at school. She says:

“When I go to play, it helps me with my physical health and my mental health. In lockdown, I was feeling bad, but since doing this, I feel younger. I look forward to playing football. I’d like to play more. It makes me happy."

Click here for more information on the Together fund.

Latest News

Connecting Communities Through Movement: Reflections From a VCSE Catalyst

By Kat Pursall, 10 GM | 29 August 2025

Between July and September, Sport England is shining a spotlight on one of the five big issues in its Uniting the Movement strategy – a deeper exploration of ‘connecting communities’, and how place-based approaches can bring people together to get active in non-traditional settings and ways. This spotlight offers a timely opportunity to reflect on the work of GM Moving and its long-standing partnership with 10GM — a collaboration of Local Infrastructure Organisations (LIOs) that support Voluntary, Community, and Social Enterprise (VCSE) groups across Greater Manchester.

Visit our Women’s Rugby World Cup Fan Zone

By MCR Active | 28 August 2025

We’re thrilled to be part of one of the official Fan Zones in Piccadilly Gardens, bringing people together to celebrate across two exciting match weekends.

Greater Manchester answers Westminster committee's call for evidence on active ageing

By GM Moving, NHS GM, GMCA, and the GM Public Health Network | 28 August 2025

A call for evidence on the role of physical activity in improving the health and wellbeing of older people was launched by the Health and Care Select Committee in Westminster.