Paris, 20th November 2017
What a crazy, whirlwind 10 days or so it’s been for FA Wales, and as with every international break, it was the same for us at Gôl.
On Friday 10th November, Leigh James hosted another pre-match fundraising party, in Paris, that brought in more than €800. Many thanks to Leigh for his meticulous arrangement and to all of you who donated for continuing to support Gôl’s work.
The money was spent the following morning on essential goods, such as warm clothing and sleeping bags to help child and young refugees in Paris. We also donated two full football kits to help encourage the development of recreational activities among the refugee population.
Many thanks to Utopia 56 for letting us visit their emergency centre for underage refugees. Here, they have emergency overnight shelter and help distribute essential goods for new arrivals in Paris. With the Winter closing in on us, their work is essential to stop the suffering for society’s least fortunate, and we are proud to have been able to help.
Thanks again to all of you who have supported our work, on this trip and at all Wales games in 2017. The work doesn’t stop, and you can still donate at: www.justgiving.com/gol.
Tbilisi, 12th October 2017
Despite Monday night’s heartbreak, Gôl is proud of the work undertaken in the last couple of weeks, and hopes to inspire us all to bounce back.
After an arduous journey across the Black Sea, the ‘Tbilisi or Tip’ team finally made it to Georgia in time for the game. The team arrived Kutaisi, which is twinned with Newport in the early hours just 1 week ago and, unfortunately, had to squeeze in 4 days of events and visits into just one morning.
However, the team was still able to visit the Bridge Centre for children with autism, downs’ syndrome and cerebral palsy. The day centre provides a space for recreational and educational activities fort the children, as well as providing a support mechanism and coaching for the parents and families. Gôl donated a whole host of clothes, toys, and needed goods such as sanitary items, as well as purchasing furniture, a printer and specialist equipment worth up to €900.
Lika Mkhatvari, director of the Centre who couldn’t be there during our visit, sent us this message upon our return: “I was very impressed with your thoughtfulness in so carefully choosing all the developmental materials that my staff, kids and parents are in love with. Thank you for the colour printer (our first one), furniture (so colourful and positive) and everything you have given us. It was the happiest day in our career lives so far! Now, all three programs are dividing toys and sharing them.
It really touched me to hear the story of your visit , having in mind that you were in great hurry and still made it. I am sure my colleagues wanted to have more time to show more hospitality and are looking for your future visit.”
Gôl also re-visited the English Centre in Kutaisi with donations of books for the Centre. We were disappointed to have missed out on a performance by the pupils, but we were given a warm welcome by Prof. Madonna Megrelishvili and her staff.
Unfortunately, the team was unable to meet with the Imereti (Kutais’s regional) Football Association, but we left them two full Wales children’s kits and training material and equipment, courtesy of the FAW Trust, to help them develop the beautiful game.
We were, however, welcomed by the Mayor of Kutaisi in his office and we offered him a Wales shirt, courtesy of Heno S4C. Each member of the team received a gift bag to remember the city, and the Mayor spoke warmly of his experience with Newport and Wales, although stopping short of saying he’d support us the following evening.
Eleanor Morgan, who made the long trip, said, “It was humbling to see the great work done at the Bridge Centre, who rely entirely on third party funding. The dedicated team were brilliant and we were overwhelmed by the warm reception from the staff and children alike. We hope that we have been able to help the centre to develop further and to help keep the children smiling. It was also great to build on the already strong foundation between Newport and Kutaisi, and between our two countries.”
Further to this, on the day of the match, Leigh James again arranged a fundraising party, bringing in £600 worth of Lari for Gôl. Gôl used this to visit an orphanage in Tbilisi the following morning, buying brand new clothes and shoes for the children.
Leigh commented that, “The children were delighted with the gifts that we brought, and we would like to thank all Wales fans for their generosity in making this come true. We look forward to doing the same again on the next trip!”
Gôl will be teaming up with Coleg Gwent in the new year to revisit Kutaisi, and anyone who made the trip to Georgia can contribute any spare Lari to help us help the kids.
Please send to: Paul Corky, 17 Susannah Place, Treharris, CF46 5AE. Or, you can always donate online at www.justgiving.com/gol . All the money will go towards helping children in need.
Lviv, 26th September 2017
Gôl visited Orphanage School #2 in Lviv this morning with gifts of football equipment, toys and games, as well as a laptop. The laptop will go towards the school’s ‘parliament’, and its work in giving children adult responsibilities.
We are delighted to build on our relationship with the people of Lviv, who we made friends with through the Wales fans team’s visits to the Eurofan tournament between 2008-2013. It was great to catch up with Oleg Soldatenko who facilitated today’s visit too.
We would also like to thank Lviv’s Director of Development, Andriy Moskalenko, for hosting us and awarding us with the King Danilo medal. Kevin Davies, who received the honour on behalf of Gôl said, “It’s a pleasure to return to Lviv to visit our friends here once again. Many thanks to the Director for his welcome, and to the citizens of Lviv for their hospitality. We hope that our work can go some way to repaying this.”
We rely on your donations to make this happen and our ‘Tbilisi or Tip’ team are still on route, so please give generously to sponsor them: justgiving.com/gol
Moldova, 7th September 2017
As the dust settles on a brilliant few days for the Wales national team, let’s take a look at some of the work that Gôl engaged in.
On Tuesday, we visited the Casa Gavroche orphanage in Chisinau with donations of goods, toys and paint totalling up to €1000. Oksana and Matej couldn’t wait to play with their new toys, whilst the older boy Sergio jumped for joy upon finding out that he may be going to the game that evening.
John Jones of Gôl thanked the home for letting us visit, saying, “It was a pleasure to greet the smiling children and to give something back to a city and country that welcomed us with open arms. It was humbling to see the work of the carers, and we hope that we have helped, even if it is just a little.”
Prior to the match, Leigh James arranged yet another pre-match fundraising party in aid of Gôl, which was again a roaring success, as more than £750 was raised towards good causes. Gôl would like to thank Leigh for his continued support and we’re already looking forward to the next in Georgia.
During the party, a group of orphans were welcomed as guests of Gôl and given tickets to the match that evening, as well as a Wales shirt each. We’d especially like to thank the Welsh fans for entertaining the kids and making them feel truly welcome.
Yesterday, we wrapped up our activities in Chisinau with a visit to the state’s centre for males with severe mental and physical disabilities in Orhei. Here, we donated 2 specialist buggies, along with a donation of €500 to help renovate the institution’s kitchen facilities. Thanks to FA Wales for transporting the buggies and thanks to Wales fans again for making this all possible.
Diana, the centre’s director, emphasised the pressing need for funding, stating, “We rely heavily on donations from charities and NGOs to help ease the situation for society’s most vulnerable. Gôl’s money will go a long way in alleviating some of the pressures on the staff today, and in providing a better life for our patients.”
Looking forward, Paul Corky has again kindly suggested that we collect all spare change that Wales fans may have returned with, and Gôl has decided to dedicate these funds to the centre in Orhei. Every little helps, so please send your money to Paul at: 17 Susannah Place, Treharris, CF46 5AE
Belgrade, August 17th 2017
Gôl representatives re-visited the 3 orphanages that we visited on our trip to Serbia in June. With your money, we donated goods worth over 200,000 dinars (> €1650).
We asked the three homes what they required and so Dom Moše Pijade received 40 beach towels, Dom Drinke Pavlovića received a 42 inch tv and 2 armchairs, whilst Dom Zmaja received 3 sinks, taps, towel rails, and a toilet seat.
With the leftover money, we also purchased sports equipment, toys and games for the children.
Snežana Nikolić of Dom Drinke Pavlovića said, “Many thanks to the Welsh supporters for showing their generosity once again. We’re delighted to maintain this relationship and we hope to draw you again so that we can meet up once more.”
Once again, we’d like to thank all of you who donated for making this happen and thanks to Paul Corkrey for collecting all the money. We hope to do this again following our next trips.
Belgrade, June 2017
Many thanks to all Wales fans and locals who made Sunday’s party at Kulturni centar GRAD, and our visits yesterday such a success. We raised well over £1000 (140,000 dinars), enabling us to fund this visit with some left over for our next activities in Cardiff and Moldova.
One of the party organisers Leigh James said “it was a tremendous effort by Wales fans to raise so much money and thanks again to the FAW and the players for donating a signed shirt to raffle. Its much aporeciated by all.” Also thanks to FK Yugo 55 of Belgrade who played against Wales supporters’ team, raising even more money.
We returned to Dom Moše Pijada for the third time, donating footballs, basketballs, volleyballs, a full U14 Cardiff City Football Club set of kits, toys and the frisbees kindly donated by Blazing To Serbia.
In Dom Zmaja, we met up with Ahmet Musliji who was a guest of Gôl in Cardiff for the return fixture last year. He beamed at seeing our representatives, laughing that “Wales still can’t beat Serbia!” The home received similar sporting equipment to Moše Pijada, notably Colwyn Bay FC children’s shirts, as well as a donation of around £200 (27,000 dinars) to rebuild the fountain in the outside relaxation area in the home. As a token of their appreciation, they will get the children to paint the renovated dragon red.
We concluded our activities in Belgrade yesterday with a visit to Dom Drinka Pavlovića, where Gôl caught up with carer Danilo Bojović and Milica and Elvis who also came to Wales last year. We purchased a table tennis table, teddy bears and other sporting equipment for the home.
Danilo commented, “It was great to see our Welsh friends again. It’s the first time that fans of an opposition team have done this for us and we greatly appreciate all you’ve done,” as he invited us to join them in a game of Frisbee and Table Tennis.
Chester Hartley of Gôl, echoed Danilo’s sentiments saying, “We have built a great relationship with Serbia over the years and it was great to revisit Dom Moše Pijada and to see our friends who came over to Wales. We’re overwhelmed by the support we’ve had by the Wales fans over the weekend and we’re pleased to have been able to promote our country’s reputation abroad once again.”
We’re always looking towards the next trips so please help us: www.justgiving.com/gol
Gôl! go to Belgrade
Wales football fans will be visiting three children’s homes in Belgrade as Wales take on Serbia in the World Cup Qualifier match. The supporters’ charity Gôl! will take football kits and supplies and make a donation to each of the three homes. The homes have asked specifically for a table tennis table, footballs and basketballs, which the fans will buy in Serbia. They will also be buying tickets for ten children and two adults to attend the big match.
Rhys Hartley from Gôl! said, “The Wales supporters are doing their little bit to help people less fortunate than ourselves and to raise the profile of football fans across Europe. It’s a long way to go but it will be great to meet the young people of Belgrade once again.”
Gôl! has a long relationship with Serbia having visited good causes there on two separate occasions when Wales played there. Last autumn the fans brought four young Serbians over for the home fixture against Wales and arranged a week of visits for them in Cardiff and London. It will be a busy few days for the Wales fans. They have arranged a friendly match against Serbian fans. The game kicks off at 12pm on Sunday 11 June at FK Brodarac, Staro Sajmište. At 1pm there will be a pre-match party to raise money for Gôl! at KC Grad, Brace Krsmanovic 4, Belgrade.
Danilo Bojovic, who accompanied the children, said, “We had a marvellous time in Wales and were very impressed with the Welsh hospitality. The children got to meet their footballing heroes and attend the match. It will be great to meet up with our friends from Gôl! back in Belgrade.”
The UK Ambassador to Serbia, Denis Keefe, said, “We are always delighted to host national teams here in Serbia. Whilst the main Embassy priority is to make sure that the visiting fans stay safe and enjoy their visit, charitable, cultural and cross-community initiatives are exceptionally valuable add-on.
Over several visits to Serbia, Gôl have engaged local children’s homes, schools, Serbian media and fan associations. These people to people contacts are excellent PR for Wales and Welsh football fans, and they are massively appreciated by the local community in Serbia.”
Help us to help the children. Donate here: www.justgiving.com/gol
Dublin, 23rd March 2017
Gôl visited LauraLynn – Ireland’s Children’s Hospice with a donation of €400 to help the hospice with its work.
For five years, Laura Lynn has offered care for children with life-limiting illnesses and support for their families, attending to the needs of each child individually.
Wales supporters were given a tour of the facilities and learned about the work going on there. Kevin Davies from Gôl said, “It is quite humbling to see the fantastic work being done here. As Wales fans, we are pleased to support Laura Lynn and would like to thank everyone who has donated to the charity. Help us help the kids.”