2025

After the first pause in nearly ten years of programming, we were delighted to re-start our football sessions for residents of Ritsona camp, in June. Restrictions placed on children’s ability to leave the camp mean that the focus, since our restart, has been on young adults. The sessions are a vital opportunity for the participants to briefly escape the stifling conditions within the camp. We are the only organisation that provides psychosocial support or sports programming for adult men living in the camp, and are thus filling a major gap for this often overlooked demographic. The majority of residents of the camp are young men aged from 18-25 years, most of whom fled their home countries alone. This group receives little to no mental health support and have few opportunities to leave the camp for some physical and emotional relief – our football activities provide a crucial way for these young adults to create connections with each other, to foster resilience, self-confidence, and to release stress.

The highlight of our 2025 programme was the visit of John Bankole Kamara to one of our sessions. John is a former Sierra Leone international, having represented his country 26 times, and it was an amazing opportunity for the young men at the session to play a match with a former star of the African game. The session was interrupted by a huge storm, but this definitely didn’t dampen the spirits!  The evening was captured on the Lighthouse Relief “Keep the Light On” video shot, edited and produced by Asil Abed El Ghani, viewable via the “Sports4Development” section of the website (click on “Areas of Support” in the menu above). The voice-over which accompanies the video highlights the unique role of football for those seeking refuge: “In a world divided by borders, languages and journeys, one game speaks to us all. Football doesn't ask where you're from. It doesn't see the distance you've travelled. It only asks "Will you Play?"Here, every match is more than a competition. Players push each other harder, and leave the field as friends. Every pass breaks a wall. Every cheer builds a bridge. And every goal reminds us we rise higher together. This is more than a game. This is community. This is hope. This is football.”