Target reached! Stretch target: £2,000
The extra donations will help us to expand on what we've able to do and consider lon...
Afghanistan Women's Dev Football team to Dorking
Dorking, Surrey, United Kingdom
Aim: Helping to bring the Afghanistan Women's Development to Surrey for an international friendly against a Surrey county representative team.
Who are we?
International Surrey Football, debuted in 2018 with a senior men's team, in 2021 we debuted our women's team in a behind closed doors friendly against the University of Surrey Women's team. In July 2020 we co-founded the World Unity Football Alliance, a federation of 19 internationally based representative football teams aligned by the common values of empathy, compassion, equity, honesty, and respect for universal human rights. We work equitably together on projects, campaigns, and events that elevate the Alliance’s mission and values, and those of each of our teams.
The Afghanistan Women's Development team, facing the threat of persecution and death for simply playing football as women, were able to escape the Taliban in September following the Taliban's takeover of Afghanistan and they finally made it safely to the UK in November 2021. Currently living in temporary accommodation we're working to help arrange for the team to travel to Dorking in Surrey for a friendly fixture against our senior women's team as part of a 2-day trip for the team which will include other team building activities and more to help spread awareness of their situation, but to most importantly to allow them to do the thing they enjoy more, playing football.
We are looking to arrange a friendly between the Afghanistan Development side and our senior women's team on Sunday 29th May at the Meadowbank Stadium in Dorking, Surrey. Supporters will also be able to attend the game and support both teams.
Community impact
By arranging this friendly football match we hope to continue to raise awareness of their situation and the importance of ensuring women and girls have access to play football and enjoy it safely, these players have been through a lot over the past year and we hope this experience will be worthwhile for them, but also not the only opportunity they have to represent their country.
The players recently had the opportunity to travel to London and play against the UK Parliamentary Women's team, opportunities like this and the one we're hoping to arrange for Sunday 29th May are so important.
Why are we crowdfunding and how we’ll spend the money raised?
The money that has been raised through a mixture of crowdfunding, sponsorship, and other donations to help cover the expenses related to the trip, includes a coach to bring the Afghanistan team to Surrey from the temporary hotel accommodation they are currently based at, overnight accommodation at a hotel in Dorking, food for the duration of their trip, and match related expenses include pitch hiring costs, match official fees, and other associated expenses. Additional costs for any other activities planned may also be required.
How you can play your part
There are four simple ways to help us reach our target, and make this project a reality.
1. Make a pledge and claim your reward. Don’t delay if you’re going to support us because momentum is key to our success!
2. Spread the word. Share our project on your social media pages and tell the world to get behind us! The more people we reach, the more support we will get.
3. Corporate sponsorship for larger donations are available, please email us directly to discuss the opportunities available.
4. Create a fundraiser of your own. Use the button on our page to get started. Setting up your own page only takes a few minutes and you won’t need any bank details. Just a fun idea!