“The idea that the homeless are this block to be pitied or given charity or to be judged or stigmatised is blown apart when you’re watching them playing and cheering them.”
“It means the world to me to be playing for my country,” said Blud. “I’m so proud. Everything else that is going on in my life goes out of my mind.”
Blud is one of 500 players from around the globe playing in the Homeless World Cup, which has been running for a week in Cardiff.
The striker for Wales women said the team and the competition were giving her a sense of meaning that she lacked when she lived in insecure accommodation and, for a while, on the street.
I didn’t think I was worth anything,” she said. Her future is looking much brighter. During the week-long tournament she has heard she is going to move into a flat of her own and she is now planning to do her football coaching badges. “Life is looking good,” she said before jogging off to play Belgium – and banging in five goals.
Players taking part in the competition include people who have been homeless within the last year, asylum seekers, sellers of street papers and those in drug or alcohol rehabilitation.Advertisement
Cardiff 2019 is the 17th edition of the competition, which has given thousands of players the chance to travel, meet new friends and perhaps get a glimpse of a better future.”
#homeless #footballforgood #endhomelessness #morethanagame #lifechanging #beautifulgame
Sources:
homelessworldcup.org
This beautiful game 