Sports4Development
How Lighthouse Relief uses Sport for Good
Sports have proven a particularly effective tool of mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS). Playing team sports promotes mental and physical health while teaching the value of teamwork, tolerance, sportsmanship, discipline, and respect. It is a vehicle for social inclusion and building resilience to trauma. MHPSS is essential for displaced people, particularly for young people who may not remember life outside refugee camps, but also to all those facing unjust confinement in a prison-like environment.
Lighthouse Relief supports women, children and young people living in Ritsona and Corinth Refugee Camps on mainland Greece using sport4development methodologies. Refugee camps are isolated, with no safe spaces to play or connect and few opportunities for residents to escape the stress, boredom, and restrictions imposed on them by the Greek government.
Responding to this gap in essential services, we are currently offering football sessions for young adults in Ritsona Camp as well as basketball and volleyball sessions for residents of Corinth Camp. These sessions create much-needed safe spaces for participants to release anxiety, make new friends, experience a sense of belonging outside of the camps, and engage in activities that boost mental and physical wellbeing.
Lighthouse Relief has been building community through sport for people seeking refuge since 2016. Our Sport4Development programmes are absolutely critical for the wellbeing of these young people and their families. Playing sports, learning new skills, integrating with the Greek community and tasting life outside the camp are life-enhancing experiences that will help participants on their journey to leading a fulfilled life, despite experiencing trauma during displacement.
We are enormously grateful to the many organisations and individuals who have helped deliver our sports programmes through their generous funding. In particular, SOL Foundation, the FIFA Foundation, and the European Union (through the Erasmus+ programme) have been instrumental in enabling Lighthouse Relief to change lives through sport.
Views and opinions expressed are, however, those of Lighthouse Relief only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). Neither the European Union nor EACEA can be held responsible for them.
Providing community through sports for people seeking refuge since 2016.
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Score4TheFuture is Lighthouse Relief’s award‑winning sports‑for‑development programme that empowers refugee children and youth living in Greece’s Ritsona camp. By bringing participants to local football and basketball clubs, the initiative - an expansion of our Sport4Integration programme - breaks down barriers of isolation, fosters integration with Greek peers, and provides a vital psychosocial lifeline.
Through trauma‑informed coaching and gender‑sensitive sessions, with nutritious, energising snacks, Score4TheFuture helps participants build resilience, confidence, and community while caring for their mental and physical wellbeing. In 2024 alone, nearly 2,800 people took part, with one‑third being women and girls, while local coaches were trained in inclusive, adaptive methods.
Recognised internationally with the Empowerment through Sports award in 2024, the programme continues to offer hope, dignity, and joy to displaced families — proving that sport is more than play: it is a pathway to healing, belonging, and a brighter future.
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In 2023 and 2024, Lighthouse Relief took part in a collaborative project (“Beyond the Pitch”) involving two other organisations which use sport for education, inclusion and integration - Second Chance Sport Association (Hungary) and Association Sport 4 All Suceava (Romania). The project was part-funded by the EU through the Erasmus+ programme, and its main aim was to promote the social integration of displaced children and host community members through sport. Key actions included developing a comprehensive "Gamebook" of best practices and exercises (available in multiple languages), delivering "Train the Trainer" programmes, and holding Stakeholder Events to share results.
The project was highly successful, delivering 125 sport-based sessions to nearly 400 unique participants from displaced communities, with a total of over 3,000 engagements. More than 30 coaches from diverse backgrounds, with mixed experience levels working with displaced populations, were trained. In addition, multiple Stakeholder Events reached 70 different organisations/individuals, with a diverse range of actors involved, from major international organisations to small NGOs using sport as a tool to drive inclusion and change.
The Gamebook which was developed as part of this project was thoroughly tested and adapted to maximise its impact, and is available to download from the “Policies & Materials” section at the foot of this page.
Overall, the project effectively built local capacity for sports-based integration, fostered knowledge-sharing, and created sustainable tools and methodologies for use by NGOs and sports clubs engaging with displaced children and young people.
This project was co-funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are, however, those of Lighthouse Relief only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). Neither the European Union nor EACEA can be held responsible for them.
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From April-August 2023, Lighthouse Relief implemented our pilot Sports4Integration programme. Weekly sports sessions for children, women and youth, as well as one football tournament for children, and multiple matches with local teams from the Greek community for youth and children were organized for residents of Ritsona Camp.
The sport sessions fostered cohesion by offering a space where different communities engaged and interacted in a stress-free recreational environment. Sports sessions offered to children aged 5-16 living in Ritsona, included basketball in Chalkida and football in Avlonas, while joint football sessions with a local Greek club were offered to youth living in Ritsona. We also facilitated a female-only sport session to encourage confidence and skills development in women and girls in a safe space.
At the conclusion of the programme, we organized a final tournament in collaboration with Organization Earth, a Greek NGO. Children aged 10-16 participated in a football tournament that focused on fair play and sportsmanship. Children aged 5-9 participated in fun games that focused on teamwork. The tournament created a welcome distraction from the monotony of life in camp and was a different activity from the regular sessions.
We witnessed a significant participation from the Ritsona community, totaling 187 individuals, who engaged in our activities a total of 1079 times. Among the 187 unique individuals that participated, women and girls accounted for 41%. When considering the participation rates across all sessions, women and girls had a participation rate of 27%.
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The Sports4Hope Programme invited children and teens from Ritsona Camp to play basketball and football at nearby facilities in partnership with local clubs. These sessions exposed them to life outside the camp walls, while joint practice sessions offered rare opportunities to form social ties with Greek peers while picking up the language and cultural norms. Lighthouse Relief provided snacks and transportation to and from each sports session.
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