Over the last few weeks, 14 young volunteers from Palace for Life’s Get Involved programme have been organising a football tournament to fundraise for families affected by the devastating floods in Pakistan.
As reported by UNICEF, in June a monsoon triggered the most severe flooding in Pakistan’s recent history, leaving hundreds of thousands of homes, public health services, water systems, and schools severely damaged or destroyed.
The devastation means almost 10 million children are in need of immediate lifesaving support and by September 2022, over 1,500 people had died, and another 12,850 were left injured. As of October, 33 million people have been affected by the disaster.
Many of the young Get Involved participants are of Pakistani heritage and naturally wanted to help – and being volunteers for Crystal Palace’s official charity, it wasn’t long before the idea of a football tournament, hosted at the club’s state-of-the-art Academy, was suggested.
Palace for Life’s Get Involved programme gives opportunities for young people and adults from the Asian and Muslim community to participate in football within Croydon and the surrounding areas and increase cohesion with other communities through joint activities.