Gôl Cymru in Armenia, November 2023
As Wales travel to Yerevan for their crunch Euro qualifier against Armenia, the Wales supporters charity Gôl Cymru! again swung back onto action. This time they visited the Arvestaran charity in the capital city with gifts of sports, play and educational equipment for children with autism.
Arvestaran is a small charity founded by a volunteer, Hasmik Tangyan. Hasmik is a dedicated individual who set up the charity in 2018 without any funding and she has maintained the service by baking and selling cakes and the like in the local community.
The mission of Arvestaran is to create a safe and enabling environment for disadvantaged children in the community, by building an inclusive and aware society, in particular for children with autism and other developmental disorders of all ages to develop their social and self-advocacy skills. The Centre provides creative therapy services, such as art, music, dance and crafts as well as providing educational services and vocational training.
Hasmik Tangyan from Arvestaran, said, “Unfortunately, the current support of the state and of society towards people with autism is insufficient. With employment difficulties, low financial compensations, and little understanding and acceptance by society, this vulnerable group finds itself in a rather challenging position. Arvestaran forms a bridge to overcome these difficulties. But the structural problems are hard to combat alone, raising the need for benevolent allies. Here is where any help would have a major impact on the continuity of the local community, and eventually the beginning of a more aware society.
Thank you for supporting and being a part of our community!”
The Red Wall supporters raffled three signed Wales shirts on the flights from Manchester and Cardiff to Yerevan to raise money for Arvestaran.
Chester Hartley from Gôl Cymru! said, ‘Knowing that what the Wales fans saw when we first came here in 2001 was partly why Gôl Cymru! was started, it’s great to be able to give something back to this welcoming country. We hope our contribution will help, even if just in a small way, to make sure this project continues. Thanks again to Cymru fans for making this possible.’
Back to the Baltics, September 2023
As the Wales team returned to Euro qualification in Latvia so Gôl Cymru! swung back into action too. The last time the team played in Riga in 2004 we donated kit and sports shoes to the Jurmala children’s home. This time the fans supported the Allaži Children and Family Support Centre just outside the capital Riga.
The Allaži Centre helps children who have suffered violence, trauma or abuse. Work is already underway there to build a special room where kids who have suffered from all kinds of violence can express their emotions in a safe way without harming themselves or others. That includes equipment to soften the walls and the floor, sound and light equipment.
Two signed Wales shirts were raffled on the flights to Latvia from Cardiff and we donated more than €1000 worth of kit for the basement sports room. The Allaži Centre had asked for all sorts of equipment including boxing gloves, a hanging punch bag and an exercise bike, which we bought and took to the centre.
Paul Brummell, the British Ambassador to Latvia said,’I’m delighted to welcome supporters of the Welsh men’s football team to Latvia. It’s a tremendous gesture of friendship that Gôl Cymru! is taking the opportunity to visit the Allaži Children and Family Support Centre and make a donation of sports equipment.’
Helen Lucitt from Gôl Cymru! said, ‘It was good to go back to Riga, a city which welcomed us with open arms all those years ago. There can be no excuse for violence towards children and we were proud to be able to support the amazing work they do at the Allaži Centre. We were so grateful to the Welsh fans who once again dug deep to help others.’
Croatia, March 2023
Ahead of the national team’s match against Craotia in Split, Welsh football fans charity Gôl made a donation of sporting vouchers worth €1000 to two organisations that run football teams for children with various disabilities – Down 21 Split and Pogled (View) Association.
Children from their respective football teams, Special Power Teams Nedelišće/Ćakovec and Hajduk Split, attended the big game and Gôl representatives met with them to donate the vouchers and see first-hand the excellent work they do.
As Cymru started their 2024 UEFA European Championship qualifying campaign in Croatia, so did Gôl Cymru’s activities for 2023. Having already visited the ‘Klasje’ home for children without parental care in Osijek four times – including most recently on the way to the World Cup i 2022 – Gôl was looking forward to building on its strong relationship with children’s organisations in Croatia.
Chester Hartley from Gôl Cymru said: “This incredible initiative is something we’re really proud to support. At home, we know how children with disabilities struggle to get involved in sport and the structures these organisations have already put in place are an inspiration to us all. We hope our contribution will help even if just in a small way to making sure this project continues. Thanks again to Cymru fans for making this possible.”
Dario Jagić, speaking on behalf of Health Life Academy, said, “We were overwhelmed to receive Gôl Cymru’s message about wanting to help our work. We’ve built some great networks with the Croatian Football Federation and local clubs and are starting to deliver inclusive sporting opportunities for children with Down’s syndrome and other disabilities. This money will go right to the clubs that do the hard work on the ground, and so we thank you for your kind donation.”