Great psycho-social football events for communication and establishing friendly connections between IDP children and local kids were organized by the Ukrainian Football Association, Zakarpattya Football Association, and Husytska Community.

Photo by the press service of the UAF

Local schools received a large amount of sports equipment for football events, volunteers were equipped with sportswear, and each child participating in the football festival received a ball, a project t-shirt, and a participant diploma as gifts.

It should be noted that within the framework of the project, IDP families received a large amount of humanitarian aid in the form of medical, food kits, and first-aid items.

Photo by the press service of the UAF

The mayor of Husytsk, Volodymyr Katschuk, People's Deputy of Ukraine and President of the All-Ukrainian Students' Football Association Ivan Krulko, Chairman of the Zakarpattya Football Association Ivan Duran, and project coordinator from UAF Yevgeniy Stolitenko greeted the children at the central stadium in Husytsk.

Also participating in the event were deputy of the oblast council Vasyl Krulko, deputy mayor Vasyli Sabadosh, vice chairman and executive director of Zakarpattya AF Viktor Nasakolov, member of the Coordination Center of UAF Vitaliy Danilchenko.

Photo by the press service of the UAF

Local volunteers—teachers and coaches from Husytska DYSZ, led by their leader Romeo Bukovetskyi, head of the Husytska District Football Association—conducted wonderful games and exercises on the football field.

The schedule for "Open Football Lessons" is constantly updated:

May 20-21 — Khmelnytskyi oblast, Dunaivtsi;

May 21-22 — Chernivtsi oblast, Novoselytsia;

May 23-24 — Ternopil oblast, Buchach;

May 26-27 — Ternopil oblast, Zaliztsi;

May 26-27 — Khmelnytskyi city;

May 27-28 — Chernivtsi city;

June 1-2 — Uzhhorod;

June 2-3 — Lviv oblast, Sosnovka;

June 3-4 — Zakarpattya oblast, Husytsk;

June 8-9 — Ivano-Frankivsk city;

June 11-12 — Ivano-Frankivsk oblast, Nadworna;

June 28-29 — Rivne oblast, Ostroh.

Other communities that joined the project (dates pending):

— Lviv oblast, Stryi/Morshyn;

— Rivne city.

All events of the project are held with the consent of the oblast military administrations.

We remind you that in April, special preparatory training for volunteers was conducted in seven regions participating in the project.

The general goal of the "Open Football Lessons" project is to contribute to the protection of IDP children, unaccompanied minors, orphans and other vulnerable children who have suffered from the war and were forced to resettle in Western Ukraine (the project is currently being implemented in seven regions—Zakarpattya, Ivano-Frankivsk, Lviv, Rivne, Ternopil, Khmelnytskyi, and Chernivtsi oblasts).

Photo by the press service of the UAF

In addition to the general goal, the project has three specific objectives:

— provide immediate humanitarian aid (medical, food and non-food items) to IDP children and their families;

— provide psycho-social support to children through a powerful social tool of mass football, through games and open football events that will unite the target groups of children with local kids;

— provide material-technical and moral support to cross-sectoral networks united by football in Western regions of Ukraine in their efforts to help affected target groups of children.

International donors and partners of the project are New Democracy Fund (Denmark), Common Goal (Germany), Cross Cultures Project Association (Denmark).