PSV Foundation, the social branch of the football club, is changing course. The foundation will only focus on young people who can use an extra push in life.
Until now, the course of the foundation has been much broader. There were many types of activities for different groups. In addition to projects for children, these included programs such as walking football for the elderly and football for people with disabilities, such as football for the blind and electric wheelchair football.
Impact
“We think we can make the most social impact by helping young people,” says Claire de Rooij of the PSV Foundation. The club is, therefore, now developing new programs that can help vulnerable young people between the ages of 12 and 25, together with youth workers and the municipality of Eindhoven, among others. This concerns, for example, teenagers who have dropped out of school, are unemployed or searching. In the beginning, it will involve dozens of young people who will be supervised. After that, the club wants to expand this further.
De Rooij thinks that the PSV Foundation can mean something to many young people, with the aim of inspiring them to contribute to society ultimately. “Young people experience a lot of stress. We want to be there for them so that they can develop and participate. We have a great attraction for young people. This allows us to reach and address them.”
Skills
The foundation wants to do this in different ways. “We teach PSV youth players all kinds of skills. We now also want to teach this to young people in the neighbourhoods. Sometimes it is about simple things, such as treating each other with respect, dealing with stress and living a healthy life. But we can also help young people find a job or internship through our network. It’s about knowing what’s important to them and how they can make a positive contribution to society.”
Parting
The foundation, therefore, says goodbye to, among other things, walking football and forms of football for people with disabilities. De Rooij: “But those projects don’t stop. Associations and municipalities are continuing with this. For example, the municipality of Meijerijstad itself is continuing with, among other things, football for the blind.” Earlier there were concerns in the Eindhoven city council that blind football, frame football and wheelchair football would stop, but according to the Eindhoven football club that is not the case.
PSV Foundation now has four employees. A large part of the activities is made possible by the Vriendenloterij. From the lottery, it is an amount of three hundred thousand.
Source: Studio 040
