San Gregorio, Mexico: 3rd love.fútbol project in partnership with Manchester City inaugurated

After a couple of months of work where two days of volunteering were held to rehabilitate the facility, Project Axolotl is officially inaugurated; a safe space where the members of the community of San Gregorio in Xochimilco, may perform sports and cultural activities. All of this was made possible thanks to the combined efforts of the neighbors of the community, the international nonprofit organization love.fútbol in Mexico, the local organization Por Amor a Xochimilco, and sponsorship by the English Club Manchester City.

 This field is the third of the "Fútbol Matters" initiative proposed by love.fútbol, which obtained funding from Manchester City as part of its Cityzens Giving 2016/2017 campaign where the funds for these projects are distributed according to the votes each gets, the initiative of love.fútbol obtained the highest budget allocated, with which they could construct the courts "El Coyolito" that is in the delegation Gustavo A. Madero and the court "La Doce", inaugurated in 2017, constructed in Xico, Valle de Chalco, in 2018.

love.fútbol develops, in partnership with communities, soccer fields that function as community centers driving sustainable social change: "For love.fútbol, spaces have to be thought of by and for people. This community facility was planned and reformed by and for neighbors, who devoted more than 600 hours of volunteer work so that their children and youth could have an inclusive place for sport and education." says Breno Lacet, Director of Development for the organization.

To ensure the success of the projects, it is crucial for the community to be involved in the process of rehabilitation of the facilities, one of the neighbors who has actively participated in the whole process told us: "It’s important because it allows the community to appropriate the pitch. This will be a safe place for children to play and also pushes neighbors to practice sports. Many of them have a precarious life and football is a way to forget their problems for a while." So this new space will be more than a place to play, a field that will allow the community of San Gregorio to perform sports and cultural activities that will serve them to develop different skills.

With this inauguration, next week will be held the "Football Festival", an event where coaches from Manchester City will provide training to young leaders of the communities where they have sponsored fields previously. The aim is to transfer skills and knowledge so that they can later share with other members of their communities. The festival will close with a football tournament on the pitch being inaugurated today, thus ensuring that the community continues to be involved in the management and use of these spaces which will serve to further strengthen the networks that have been created between them.