Minister of State for Equality, Immigration and Integration David Stanton presented an award to Sligo Rovers in recognition of work carried out with refugees and asylum seekers in the north-west region through football.
The club began working with in particular the residents of Globe House over 12 months ago, with the ambition of integrating the residents into the Sligo community while also making them more aware of the brand of Sligo Rovers and the facilities on offer.
In conjunction with Show Racism The Red Card, weekly training sessions were set up on the club’s astro pitch with up to 30 refugees and asylum seekers taking part each week. The result of the project was an unprecedented success, with asylum seekers and refugees in Sligo becoming more active in the community by means of football while also becoming more familiar with Sligo Rovers as a whole.
Minister Stanton presented the club with an award in recognition of the great work done and the progress made in the previous 12 months.
Sligo Rovers thanked everybody at Show Racism The Red Card for inviting and nominating them for the award and a special thank you to Minister David Stanton who presented the award to club employee Shane Crossan in Dublin.
Sligo Rovers were the only League Of Ireland club awarded for their work.
The club are very much looking forward to taking part in year two of the project later in the year.
