Do you have any wrestling shoes or suits that you can donate to Yoga and Sports for Refugees?
British Wrestling is partnering with Yoga and Sport for Refugees to collect donations of wrestling kit, pads and small size adult boots for refugee wrestlers in Lesvos.
Please send any donations to the British Wrestling Academy, 41-43 Great Clowes Street, Salford, M7 1RQ.
British Wrestling believes in the power of wrestling to bring communities together, something we see every day in our clubs which represent the diversity of the United Kingdom. This project is a way for us to demonstrate this power and partnering with Yoga and Sports for Refugees gives our membership a conduit to support the international wrestling community.
Yoga and Sports for Refugees (YSFR) is an NGO that was set up to empower refugees through sports and to help improve their physical and mental health by providing activities that distract them from the terrible monotony and frustration of their life in the camps.
Their activities help break ethnic and religious barriers by providing a meeting space and cooperation between cultures where everyone participates.
One of their fundamental objectives is to get refugees to become trainers in charge of their own projects so that they can be integrated into the community and gain self-confidence.
Combat sports have become one of the most important projects of the NGO, being one of the activities with the highest number of users. Everyday a lot of people participate, and all the teachers responsible for carrying out the activities are refugees from Lesbos who have a great experience in the field. Contact sports are very important in the countries of origin of many of the users, as almost all practised them before arriving in Europe. This allows them to resume an activity that they developed in their routine prior to their escape to survive.
YSFR understands that recovering those activities in which they feel comfortable helps them to not perceive everything on the island as a hostile and practice sports that they like and which represent a form of consecration of the soul and the body from sobriety and self-control. This activity is translated into a great deal of benefits both physically and psychologically: it helps them to canalize the energy, anger and tension; motivate discipline and emotional management, and above all, it is a way to calm down and find peace from the respect of peers and coaches.
