F4L: Syria - Restore hope and dignity to Children

Dear Supporter,

Firstly, a very happy new year to you from FundLife! 

We welcome our new supporters and thank you for the trust you have put in us. Our entire team was blown away at a significantly generous gift that arrived at the start of the year. This, alongside all the donations we've received, reaffirmed our commitment to fight to launch F4L Syria as quickly as possible. 

Despite some very challenging months trying to gain traction with partners working on the ground, I am delighted to share some very exciting news that arrived earlier this month. Thanks to our friends at Street Football World, we have identified and made contact with 3 prospective partners doing amazing work to help Syrian refugee children In Lebanon. There are; Anera, War Child and Reclaim Childhood.

All of these organisations are working on the front-line of helping Syrian refugees in Lebanon and have expressed a keen interest to use Football as a way to increase and deepen their support of child refugees. We are having final discussions this month with these organisations with a view to make our final decision of who to partner with in February. 

We've come to the decision that we can no longer wait and want to enter as quickly as we can to start making a difference to the thousands of children not receiving any kind of psychosocial support.

Although we are still some 50% short of our intended target, we are optimistic that we can finally enter Lebanon by the 2nd quarter of this year and begin with the hugely important work of engaging and assisting Syrian refugee children through the introduction of the F4L programme.

We will keep you updated on our progress and will have an extensive report on any assessment we undertake in Lebanon. Moreover, we have received positive news that our work in the Philippines has meant we can take a small delegation to Russia for a special FIFA Football for Hope Festival. Although it is not yet confirmed, we are hopeful we can use this global stage to show solidarity for children who are still suffering from the chronic conflict that has plighted them for almost 7 years.

For those who may not have received it, I also share with you our most recent newsletter that sums up our work in 2017. Our hope is that 2018 will see even greater impact and less injustice. 

Thank you for caring and standing with us.

Sincerely,

Marko 

Links:

• FundLife Newsletter - 2017 in review