We are pleased to announce that six member groups have been awarded grants that promote the inclusion of minorities in Eastern Europe.

League of Tolerance (Ukraine), Human Constanta (Belarus), Mahatma Gandhi Human Rights Organisation (Hungary), Fundacja dla Wolnosci (Poland), LGBT Society (Russia) and Nova Zena (Bosnia & Herzegovina) will start work over the coming months on their projects.

These activities are partly funded through a partnership with Chelsea FC’s ‘Final Whistle on Hate’ initiative, and they all address the ongoing issues of racism, anti- semitism and homophobia. All of the projects will also undertake organisational development activities, after they have delivered their programmes they will we hope be able to show how they as organisations have grown.

League of Tolerance have focused on helping young people from minority backgrounds to work their way into leadership roles. They plan to make an open call to recruit 15 young leaders with diverse minorities backgrounds, who will complete four-month internships as coaches and/or managers at a school in Ivano-Frankivsk, Ukraine.

The young leaders will organise a tournament within the #FootballPeople weeks and take part in a nation-wide conference, which will see them highlight how the internship and mentoring programme has aided their development. In addition, they will host a Human Rights in Football panel discussion and an EthnoLeague tournament.

Human Constanta will enable refugees to become more involved in football by organising a series of open training sessions and a football tournament around International Refugees Day, and a public lecture about the topic of Football and Human Rights.

The Mahatma Ghandi Human Rights Organisation is focused on empowering ethnic minority women by giving them skills, which includes enabling them to become more computer literate.

Nova Zena have put their focus on women’s human rights and celebrating the role of Roma girls in society. They will work with the Bosnia and Herzegovina FA to train female players to become coaches and then to go back to their clubs as coaches.

The LGBT Society, Russia want to organise a celebration of the LGBT+ community by organising a football festival in four regions or cities in Russia. The festivals will include a tournament, a conference, and roundtable discussions. These activities will be undertaken in a bid to strengthen the LGBT network with their partners.

Fundacja dla Wolnosci from Warsaw, Poland have partnered with Chrząszczyki Sports Club, a womens club, on a pilot football project that includes asylum seekers and refugees. Weekly training sessions will be held as open events that encourage people from these groups, as well as those from LGBT+ backgrounds to take part.

Supervision will be used to ensure inclusiveness and safety during sessions, coaches will given anti-discrimination training and become replicators of an inclusive message and be equipped to work with diverse groups in the future.. Supervisors will also include cooperating with coaches to evaluate their work on the field.

All of the projects have been interrupted by the Coronavirus pandemic but will be rescheduled for safe scenarios and an appropriate time.