How sport helps the Red Cross PRISM Project reach every community

“Loneliness and social isolation is a big problem in the black and minority ethnic community,” says 33-year-old Jahswill Emmanuel.
Ad Feature by British Red Cross
Published 21st Jan 2020, 09:40 BST
Updated 21st Jan 2020, 09:43 BST
Jahswill EmmanuelJahswill Emmanuel
Jahswill Emmanuel

“It takes a long time to integrate.”

A resident of Northern Ireland for 17 years, Jahswill, who is originally from Nigeria, decided back in 2016 to use his passion for sport as a way of tackling the problem of community integration head-on.

“I founded my organisation, Multi-Ethnic Sports and Cultures Northern Ireland, with the intention of using it as an instrument of integration and a way of also opening people’s eyes to the other cultures around them.

“Northern Ireland is for everyone!”

MSCNI has gone from strength to strength, running 10 projects each year and catering for people from all walks of life, from age six and up, using a variety of sports, including football, boxing, fencing and table tennis. The financial support of a micro-finance grant from the PRISM project enabled Jahswill to run a table tennis and nine-a-side football tournament, featuring an impressive line-up of participating nations.

“We had people from Poland, Libya, Iran, Nigeria, Zimbabwe, Ghana, Syria, Sudan and Somalia. Table tennis is very popular in Nigeria, and the year before we won, but this year Zimbabwe stole it away from us,” he says with a grin.

Jahswill took part in sessions run by PRISM and found them a useful way of promoting his cause and networking.

“PRISM were really supportive, and it was a great way to get our message out. I’d love to see more people getting involved as participants or volunteers.

“Anyone interested can get in touch via our website www.mscni.org or on Facebook.”

Find out more about PRISM here.

Related topics:Northern Ireland