Football brings faith communities together at Wembley

This Wednesday, 19 June, 60 pupils from Muslim, Christian and Jewish schools will come together for a Faith and Football event at Wembley Stadium. The event, organised by 3FF in partnership with the Football Association and Wembley Stadium’s Learning Zone, uses football to build positive relations between people from different backgrounds.

On the day, pupils will play a mini-football tournament in mixed-school teams, and learn about sportsmanship. The activities allow pupils from different backgrounds to explore each others’ identities and develop friendships. The event will mark the third time this year these schools meet for a linking day.

Aisling Cohn, Schools Manager at 3FF, said: “Sport is a great way of bringing people together. Faith and Football is in its second year running and we’ve seen how it has united different faith schools. There has been a lot of negativity in the news after the Woolwich attack and it is crucial to work together at a time like this.

“These linking events provide pupils with a safe environment where they can interact and develop friendships with children they may have never met in their daily lives. It also gives them the confidence they need to communicate with people who have a different background from them.”

Darren Bailey, Director of Football Governance and Regulation at The FA, said: “The FA has been proud to support this project from its inception. We hope that Football and the project continue to be effective ways in which to bring different faiths together.”

Faith and Football is part of 3FF’s School Linking programme which works with 50 faith and community schools across the UK. It creates ongoing links between schools to give students and teachers opportunities to learn about each other and develop good relations.

For more information on 3FF see: www.3ff.org.uk/