My Ukrainian friend and youth worker, Oleksandr Fomichov (Sasha to his friends), is the Founder of League of Tolerance – a Ukrainian NGO using football to promote human rights, inclusion, and tolerance.

The organisation is currently running an emergency support service focused on immediate support for families with children, mostly with disabilities. This will help them with transportation, hot meals, diapers, medicine, warm clothes, physical support during border crossings and to enter special trains from Lviv to Przemysl in Poland.

Currently the group providing support are mostly using their own funds and other limited resources but have requested support from people in other countries through donations. The team are working almost 24 hours per day to manage the crisis.

Here is a message from Sasha:

“These are difficult times for everybody, but your support can save lives and give hope for those who are suffering the most. War is merciless, but it is also the time when people help each other and do not stand aside. It is in our power to help people with disabilities and their families - and empower them to take life-changing steps towards safety.”

The team have already helped 18 families (about 100 people) to go to the West of Ukraine to a safer environment. 7 families have already crossed the border to Poland and were resettled in local families. They need families to take in these refugees as it is important for children to have toys and other children to play with after experiencing this trauma of invasion.

The immediate short-term aim is to support 100 families but there will be many more, so we are looking to raise as much money as possible. The funds will be transferred as soon as possible to the team on the ground.

I have known Oleksandr personally since 2017 from training we completed together with the Council of Europe Youth Department. The work of League of Tolerance, supporting young people through sports, has won international awards and recognition. Sasha himself was internally displaced in 2014 from Donetsk. If you want to know more about the previous work done by Sasha and the team you can check out the following links:

UEFA video and article for their famous #EqualGame campaign about Sasha's experience as IDP/refugee in 2014 and work as football coach for young people with disabilities: https://www.uefa.com/insideuefa/about-uefa/news/0245-0f8e60dd305a-20d395b6d19a-1000--football-opens-hearts/

League of Tolerance article on Beyond Sport: http://beyondsport.org/articles/meet-league-of-tolerance/

Feature with Goal Click: https://www.goal-click.com/sasha-fomichov

If you have questions, queries or need more information please feel free to contact me.

Thank you from me and Sasha.