Associació Esportiva Ramassà: Creating Employment Opportunities for Refugees in Barcelona

April 6, 2023  

In celebration of today’s International Day of Sport for Development and Peace (IDSDP), we are honored to introduce our inaugural Sport Together Fund delivered by Beyond Sport beneficiaries. With an initial focus on promoting “Leadership Together,” the seven recipients are providing sports-based leadership training opportunities for refugees, asylum seekers and vulnerable communities that promote well-being and inclusivity.
 

Based in the Les Franqueses del Vallès region of Spain, A.E. Ramassà is a community football club and NGO that uses the sport as a tool for social integration in support of society’s most vulnerable groups. The club is a member of the United Nation’s “Football for Goals” initiative and the Common Goal community – an alliance of organizations leveraging the sport to advance the UN Sustainable Development Goals. All of its social impact projects are aimed at promoting peace, gender equality, access to education and resources, and tackling social inequalities of vulnerable groups and communities. 

A.E. Ramassà has run projects and sport and educational workshops for local children across Africa for the last nine years in collaboration with local NGOs and entities. In Barcelona, the club runs an inclusive women’s football project for migrant, refugee and/or asylum-seeking girls supported by the Barça Foundation. The organization is using its Sport Together Fund (STF) grant to support its employment and workplace training program for refugees, asylum seekers and selected volunteers and staff in Barcelona. Since last September, the club has focused on providing access to vocational training that will help people with refugee experiences integrate into their local communities and be able to support themselves financially. 

Refugees in Spain  

According to the UN Refugee Agency, UNHCR, by the end of 2021, Spain had registered around 64,500 new asylum applications. In April 2022, reports revealed that around 110,000 Ukrainians had arrived in Spain since the beginning of the war.

A.E. Ramassà serves migrant, refugee and asylum-seekers from Ukraine, Afghanistan, Honduras, Haiti, El Salvador, Gambia, Syria, Sierra Leone, Peru, Colombia and Venezuela through an inclusive women’s football project. Participants take part in weekly training sessions, friendly matches with other clubs and also have opportunities to attend leisure trips outside of Barcelona where they can meet people from other territories and strengthen friendships. There is also an amateur federated men’s team, which also includes some asylum seekers.

"I look forward to Wednesdays because that's when I have football. For me, it's a good opportunity to get to know other refugees. One part is getting to play and the other is getting to talk about our problems. Because we are all refugees from different countries, it helps us to know that we are not the only ones with that problem. We have friends who are in the same situation as us," said program participant Firishtih Rafat.

Since its inception in 2021, the women’s project has continued to evolve and has garnered support from the Barça Foundation, FC Barcelona Femení, as well as ACNUR España, CEAR, the Apip-Acam Foundation, ACATHI and the Red Cross. Key goals are to support women at risk of social exclusion by promoting peaceful cohabitation between people of different communities and cultures, as well as promoting gender equality through to fight against stereotypes and prejudice.

The STF grant will support 30 refugee participants to take part in A.E. Ramassà’s weekly employment training. So far, 15 participants have signed up for the one-to-three-month courses encompassing sports coaching, logistics, language, cooking, leisure services and hospitality. The subjects were chosen following a participant survey on areas aligned with their interests that also had local job opportunities.

The club also organizes recreational and sporting outings to expand social-emotional relationships and support the participants' integration and welcome in Catalonia. Participants ranging from 18-52 years old across 14 nationalities have taken part, allowing them to meet other refugees, migrants and asylum seekers living in the area. Each participant receives personalized training and a work plan to facilitate their incorporation into the Catalan labor market. Childcare services and sports equipment are also provided.

“Thanks to the project, participants have access to sports practice and to new networks and circles of personal relationships that are very important during this phase of their lives. And since September we have incorporated new actions focused on improving access to training to facilitate the employment inclusion of the participants in the project,” said Marc Larripa, A.E. Ramassà’s International Cooperation and Social Area Manager.

A.E. Ramassà hopes that its training program will help refugees and asylum seekers acquire new abilities and critical life skills to positively impact their lives as well as that of their families. This, in turn, will open up new opportunities to improve their living conditions and prospects in Spain. 

Beyond Sport launched the Sport Together Fund in 2022 to provide grants and capacity-building support to non-profit organizations, sports clubs and collectives who are assisting communities facing conflict, displacement, human rights violations and climate change disasters through sport. The Fund also supports the transit and host communities where people are rebuilding their lives. 

Learn more about all our Sport Together Fund Grantee Partners HERE.