User:Rckd/Football Unites, Racism Divides

Football Unites, Racism Divides (FURD) is a community project and charity based in Sheffield, England which uses football as a tool to 'break down barriers created by ignorance or prejudice'. The project was created in November 1995 by a group of Sheffield United fans who were concerned with the number of racially invoked incidents occurring in and around Bramall Lane, especially because of the stadium being located in a particularly ethnically diverse area of the city. FURD has since evolved into a wider community project and works locally, nationally and internationally. Whilst the organisation uses footballing activities, such as coaching, tournaments and leagues as well as partnerships with Sheffield United and Sheffield Wednesday, it is increasingly involved in non-football based schemes such as delivering anti-racist education in schools, hostels and youth centres, the Positive Futures inclusion programme and providing volunteering opportunities for young people. It was also a founding member of the FARE (Football Against Racism in Europe) network, a loose collaboration of anti-racist organisations across Europe.

Footballing work
Much of FURD’s work focuses on using football as a tool for social change. This includes using footballing initiatives in the local community, international events and affiliations with professional clubs.

Coaching
FURD hosts free or heavily subsidised coaching at Sheffield United’s Academy in Shirecliffe with four FA Level 2 coaches. Players who show outstanding potential have been known to be referred to local professional teams to nurture their talent. FURD also offers coaching sessions for children in local schools as well as joint initiatives with the education worker. FURD also recognises women as a marginalised group in football and has sought to create women’s initiatives, especially to appeal to those from ethnic minorities. Students at The University of Sheffield conducted a survey called ‘Crossing the Line’ which demonstrated the young girls are more likely to be put off from joining in football due to anxieties over sexism rather than racism or cultural factors. Therefore FURD has run female-only coaching sessions and girls’ tournaments have been a regular feature at the annual Community Day at Bramall Lane.

Tournaments
Small-sided tournaments are regularly held by FURD in a variety of venues, often coinciding with school holidays. Events have been held at Powerleague and the SUFC Academy but one of the most prestigious tournaments is held at Sheffield United’s Community Day during the off-season. FURD also runs the annual All Nations Tournament in conjunction with Sheffield and Hallamshire County FA for teams of refugees and asylum seekers. FURD also hosted Kick It Out’s 2006 Unity Cup, a national tournament for refugees and asylum seekers.

Streetkick
Streetkick is a portable, inflatable miniature football pitch that is designed to pack away to fit into the back of a van. Its original incarnation was a wooden-paneled game built by FURD volunteer Kevin Titterton, and was replaced by the current inflatable version in 2003 using funding from Sport Relief. It enjoys a cult status and is one of FURD’s more recognisable and high-profile areas of work. Being highly practical and mobile, it has been toured at the European Championships in 2004 and 2008 as well as the World Cup in 2006.

Links with professional clubs
FURD works with Sheffield’s two professional clubs in a number of fields to deliver anti-racist work.

Sheffield United
FURD does a lot of affiliate work with Sheffield United, largely due to its origins stemming from Blades supporters as well as the proximity of the charity to Bramall Lane. FURD has regular articles in the matchday programme, anti-racist messages displayed on the scoreboard, subsidised use of the Academy facilities, and is a member of the Blades Partnership Group. Bramall Lane’s annual Community Day was instigated and largely run by FURD from 1999 to 2008, with the club taking ownership of it in 2009. FURD is a partner in Sheffield United’s Kickz project, which shares FURD’s philosophy about the power of football to bring positive benefits to young people and communities.

Sheffield Wednesday
Sheffield Wednesday have also been involved with FURD’s work, although to a lesser extent. FURD was a member of the Owls Against Racism group, has run joint events through Show Racism the Red Card as well as organising sessions in Wednesday’s Study Support Centre through collaboration with the education worker.

Affliated Clubs
FURD supports a number of clubs in Sheffield's Sunday leagues, by providing administrative help, coaches, or advice about funding.

Sharrow United
Sharrow United was set up as the brainchild of Asian teenagers Kamran Khan, Asim Shazad and Idris Ahmed in 2000. FURD agreed to help the boys undertake the formalities required to establish their team and Sharrow United was entered into the Sheffield Regional Alliance Division Two for the 2000/1 season. They encountered plenty of hostility including racism in their first season, but they persevered to finish as runners-up in the league and gain promotion. The team won promotion in their first two seasons and won the Regional Alliance League Cup in 2004. They subsequently successfully applied to enter Sheffield top Sunday League, the Meadowhall League for the 2004/5 season. They have enjoyed considerable success since entering the league, the highlights being lifting the Meadowhall Sunday League Cup in 2008 and winning promotion to the Premier Division in 2010.

Somali Blades
The Somali Blades were established when Sheffield United donated kits and they rose to prominence in 1998 when they reached the final of the Mondiali Antirazzisti in Italy. Also in 1998, they won the Philip Lawrence Award, a national award for good citizenship, to recognise their work in coaching younger Somali children.

Others
Other teams that FURD has worked with include the African Dream Team, Surud United, Porter United, Yemeni United, Sharrow Athletic and FURD Positive Futures Under-18s.

Non-footballing work
FURD is also involved in many others aspects of community life in Sheffield as well as further afield which aren’t directly related to football or sport. FURD recognises that footballers are often seen as role models for young people and that an interest in football can provide an accessible gateway into educational work. FURD has run many stand-alone events as well as continually doing ongoing work.

Education programmes
FURD runs numerous educational sessions in the local area. An education worker was appointed in July 2001 and has since been giving bespoke sessions in schools, prisons, hostels, youth centres and other relevant sites. Football coaching is sometimes combined with these sessions to create dual programmes of work on and off the pitch. Educational work has been deemed especially necessary due to the reported rise of misconceptions of race and ethnicity and a growth in Islamophobia since the September 11th, 2001 attacks on the United States.

Resources and Information
FURD also has an extensive Resources & Information Library at its office in The Stables block next to Mount Pleasant Community Centre in Sharrow, Sheffield. The material stored covers a range of subjects pertaining to all aspects of FURD’s work. The content of the collection is catalogued and searchable online and can be borrowed upon request. Enquiries about football and equality can also be answered by phone, letter or email, and information is made available online where possible on FURD’s website. A number of exhibitions are available for hire. FURD has undertaken in-depth research about the experiences of South African footballers playing in Britain from 1899 to 2009 for an exhibition, ‘Offside! Kick Out Ignorance - Football Unites, Racism Divides’ on display the Homecoming Centre of the District Six Museum in Cape Town from June 2010 to June 2011. Supporting materials are available from FURD.

Volunteering
Building on the success of the now-defunct Millennium Volunteers scheme, FURD now works with the charity v to inspire young people aged 16-25 to get involved in volunteering in their own community. FURD has set itself a target of getting 800 young people to actively participate between 2008 and 2011. Types of voluntary opportunities that FURD offers include working with young offenders, mentor schemes for refugees, football coaching, art and dance workshops, organising events, advocacy/campaigning and promotion/publicity. The aims include improving the self-esteem, confidence and skills of the participants, as well as improvements in community cohesion. FURD’s ‘Youth Against Conflict’ group made a film and education pack, ‘It’s Your Call’, in which young people enacted conflict scenarios they had experienced, including gang violence and racist bullying, and viewers are encouraged to think about and discuss different ways of resolving the issues.

Positive Futures
FURD is partnered with Positive Futures, a national sports-based inclusion programme. In partnership they run sports and other activities to try to prevent young people from being socially marginalised and being drawn into crime, drugs and anti-social activity.

Soundkickers
Funded by the Youth Music Power Play fund, Soundkickers is an initiative which allows young people to work alongside professional musicians to develop their musical talents and embark on personal projects in the Parson Cross and Sharrow areas of Sheffield. Workshops take place at various places including Sheffield’s renowned Red Tape Studios and offer a range of activities including learning DJ skills, writing and recording lyrics, and playing instruments.

Football: a shared sense of belonging?
This is a 3-year research project, funded by the Big Lottery, which is investigating the role football may play in fostering mutual understanding and integration between refugees, asylum-seekers and other new migrants. The project offers opportunities for young people, especially those from refugee backgrounds themselves, to develop research skills, as well as to share their own experiences.

Events
FURD often runs events in Sheffield using different means to spread their message. FURD also supports its volunteers in pioneering their own ideas for new or one-off events.

Vibes & Unity
Vibes & Unity is a music event held on Devonshire Green in Sheffield in May 2009 and May 2010 which featured DJs, singers, dancers and musicians, football, public speakers, food stalls and other entertainment. It has been organised largely by FURD’s young volunteers from the Vinvolved programme. The main focus of the event has been on spreading an anti-racist message and encouraging young people to use their vote in forthcoming elections in order to marginalise the far-right parties.

Community Day at Bramall Lane
Following the success of FURD’s two entrants in the Mondiali Antirazzisti in 1998, where Somali Blades and the Abbeydale Asian Youth Project both made the final, the idea was pitched to replay the final at Bramall Lane the next summer. The concept evolved to create the first annual Community Day in May 1999 and the event has run almost every year since. Small-sided tournaments take place on the pitch and other events take place around and outside the stadium. The Community Day regularly involves the Streetkick inflatable pitch, a bouncy castle, live music performances and stalls from local community groups. The Day aims to encourage local people, particularly those from ethnic minorities, to visit the Sheffield United ground and to see the club as a welcoming place. In 2009, Sheffield United took over the running of the event through the United Initiative, the club’s new community arm, although FURD is still involved in the day.

Shades of Us
Shade of Us is a programme that works in schools with young girls to discuss important issues such as race, ethnicity, self-esteem, identity and cultural awareness. It is specifically tailored to allow girls to discuss issues that might be tougher to address in a mixed-gender scenario.

Urban Smackdown
Urban Smackdown was a music event that was conceived of by four young volunteers and held in June 2003 to channel music to promote an anti-crime and anti-drugs message. It was hosted at the Nelson Mandela building at Sheffield Hallam University.

Moving On Up
The Moving On Up conference was held at Sheffield Hallam University in October 2001. It was arranged in partnership with Andy Kiwomya and coincided with Black History Month and the National Anti-Racist Week. Inspirational speakers at the event included John Barnes and Lloyd Samuels.

Timeline of key events

 * 1995 – Football Unites, Racism Divides established by fans, Sheffield United and community groups following attacks on Asian and Somali people in the vicinity of Bramall Lane.
 * Apr 1996 – FURD officially launched at Sheffield United.
 * Nov 1997 – Resources and Information Centre opened at FURD to catalogue information and publications on anti-racism and racism in football.
 * Jan 1998 – FURD launches official website, furd.org.
 * Jul 1998 – Somali Blades and Abbeydale Asian Youth Project entered by FURD at the Mondiali Antirazzisti (Anti-Racist World Cup) in Italy. Both teams make the final and play out a 0-0 draw.
 * Nov 1998 – Streetkick, FURD's mobile inflatable football pitch, is revealed at Sheffield United's open day.
 * Feb 1999 – FARE (Football Against Racism in Europe) network founded by supporters' groups in 13 countries. FURD is a founder member and partner.
 * May 1999 – FURD hosts first Community Day at Bramall Lane, which has since become an annual event.
 * Aug 2000 – Sharrow United, with sponsorship by FURD, is entered into the Sheffield Regional Alliance Sunday League and becomes the first predominantly Asian team entered in Sheffield's local leagues.
 * Oct 2001 – John Barnes and other guests speak at the Moving On Up conference at Sheffield Hallam University, organised by FURD and former Sheffield Wednesday and Bradford player Andy Kiwomya.
 * May 2002 – Sharrow United win second consecutive promotion to reach the Regional Alliance Premier League.
 * Nov 2002 – FARE wins MTV Free Your Mind human rights award.
 * Sep 2003 – FURD enters a Somali under-18 side, Surud United, into the Sheffield & District DB Under-18 League.
 * Jan 2004 – Kick It Out hosts a star-studded tenth anniversary celebration and FURD receive a special award for its pioneering work as a community-based anti-racist football project.
 * Apr 2004 – Sharrow United wins the Sheffield Regional Alliance Sunday League Cup.
 * Jun 2004 – Streetkick event hosted at the Euro 2004 in Portugal.
 * Apr 2005 – Home Office awards FURD a contract to deliver the Positive Futures programme in Sharrow and Burngreave.
 * May 2005 – FURD delivers its first anti-racist training package to youth workers.
 * Nov 2005 – A gala evening is hosted at Bramall Lane to celebrate FURD's tenth anniversary.
 * Jun 2006 – FURD tours Streetkick at the World Cup in Germany.
 * Jul 2006 – The Unity Cup, a tournament organised by Kick It Out for refugees and asylum seekers, is hosted in Sheffield by FURD.
 * Dec 2006 – An Ofsted report on Sheffield Futures, which manages parts of FURD’s work, praises the work of FURD.
 * Apr 2007 – Sharrow United promoted to First Division of the Meadowhall Sheffield Sunday League.
 * Apr 2007 – Staff and volunteers for FURD have a civic reception hosted by the Lord Mayor Councillor Jackie Drayton at Sheffield Town Hall.
 * Nov 2007 – Pelé meets staff at FURD and backs the programme.
 * Dec 2007 – Burundian FURD coach Desbon Bushiri establishes the Football Between Communities project in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
 * Mar 2008 – FURD volunteer Abdi Hussein is presented the Community Champion Award by Graham Taylor at the Football Without Frontiers conference in Belfast.
 * Mar 2008 – Somalian footballer Liban Abdi, a former FURD trainee makes a first-team debut for Sheffield United in a friendly against sister-club Ferencváros and scores the winner in a 1-0 win.
 * May 2008 – Sharrow United win the Meadowhall Sunday League Cup.
 * Jun 2008 – Streetkick hosted in Austria and Switzerland during the European Football Championships.
 * Oct 2008 – FURD wins the Score4Africa diversity award ahead of Kick It Out and Rio Ferdinand.
 * Jan 2009 – Kyle Walker, originally recommended to Sheffield United by FURD in 1997, makes his first-team debut in an FA Cup match against Leyton Orient.
 * Feb 2009: Kyle Walker makes his debut for England Under-19s, coming on as a substitute in a friendly against Spain.
 * May 2009: FURD, Sheffield United and The Hub African-Caribbean Centre host the Laurie Cunningham Memorial Dinner at Bramall Lane as part of the Laurie Cunningham Project to commemorate Cunningham's life and the development of black football in Sheffield.
 * May 2009: Young people from FURD's V volunteers' scheme organise Vibes and Unity, a free anti-racist festival in Sheffield city centre to encourage young people to use their vote in the European elections.
 * July 2009: A minibus carrying young people from FURD's Positive Futures scheme home from the Anti-Racist World Cup in Italy crashes on the M1, killing one of the team, 18-year-old Ahmed Hassan, and injuring several others.
 * October 2009: FURD's Soundkickers project starts, creating opportunities for young people from different parts of Sheffield to get together to make music with support from professional musicians and equipment.
 * April 2010: FURD begins a 3-year research project, 'Football: A shared sense of belonging?', to investigate the role football may play in helping refugees, asylum seekers and other new migrants settle into life in Britain.
 * May 2010: A second Vibes and Unity event is staged by FURD's volunteers to promote anti-racism and encourage people to use their vote in the forthcoming local and general elections.
 * May 2010: Sharrow United win promotion to the Meadowhall League Premier Division in their 10th anniversary season.
 * June 2010: 'Offside! - Kick Out Ignorance - Football Unites, Racism Divides', an exhibition researched by FURD about South African footballers' experiences of playing in Britain from 1899 onwards, opens at the District Six Museum, Cape Town, South Africa, at the start of the World Cup finals in South Africa.