Forget the Six Nations and the FA Cup final, the sporting event of the season is the Cardiff Cohesion Community Cup (CCCC’15), to be held at the Millennium Stadium, Cardiff, on April 30 2015.
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| Yemeni players celebrate their victory |
The community initiative, created by local community organisation, the Horn Development Association (HDA) and supported by South Wales Police, has brought together six Cardiff-based black and minority ethnic (BME) communities to battle it out in a series of football matches for the opportunity to play against a team of local community police officers and ex professional footballers.
The objective of the CCCC’15 tournament is to encourage stronger relationships and build closer communities amongst key ethnic minority groups across the city.
Gareth Evans, Deputy to the Local Policing Inspector, South Wales Police said: “A sporting occasion such as this provides a great opportunity for us to interact with local BME communities and forge good relations with them. Furthermore it also serves to enhance the wider community cohesion by bringing together a number of differing nationalities who will compete on friendly terms on the field of play.”
A number of local businesses and charities, including Brace’s Bread and Sported are working with the HDA and South Wales Police in supporting CCCC’15, with the goal of showing cultural clashes the red card.
Scott Richardson, Brace’s Bread, said; “Brace’s Bread prides itself on working in the heart of the community, therefore this project is a match made in heaven. The Semi Finals were very exciting and we are anticipating that the final match on the 30th of April will be even more so. Each team has put their all into the tournament and we want the people of Cardiff to come along on the day and show their support.”
Richard Thomas, Wales Manager at Sport for Development charity, Sported, said: “What’s so fantastic about the Cardiff Community Cohesion Cup is that it celebrates the city’s diversity. Few things can break down social and cultural barriers as well as sport, so the fact that this competition will bring together young people of different nationalities is going to be brilliant to see. It’s a great initiative and one that Sported is proud to support.”
Teams from the Yemeni and Kurdish community competed in the Cohesion Cup finals on April 14 with Yemeni taking the title with a 6-1 win. They will now play in the super cup at the Millennium Stadium against a team of ex-professional footballers which include Lee Trundle, Derek Brazil, Lee Jarman, Damon Searle and Roger Gibbins and key members of the South Wales Police.
Mohamed Molibany of HDA, said: “As part of HDA’s everyday role, we offer support and create opportunities for people from BME groups across Cardiff to better their lives - this event is just one of these ways and the sense of community spirit amongst the players has been tremendous.”
To find out more about CCCC’15 and how to get free tickets to the final at the Millennium Stadium, like Cardiff Community Cohesion Cup on Facebook: www.facebook.com/cardiffcommunitycohesioncup.
And if you are a local business interested in helping fund the event, visit www.spacehive.com/cardiffcommunitycohesioncup
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