Direct Provision residents Jackie Sibanda and Sharron Moyr were in attendance at Dalymount Park today as Danny Grant picked up his SSE Airtricity/Soccer Writers’ Association of Ireland Award for August.
Sibanda and Moyr were representing MASI as they collected 35 laptops, which were purchased with profits raised from our ‘Refugees Welcome’ away jersey sales.
Bohemians have worked closely with MASI since 2015, hosting meetings and Christmas parties for families, fundraising, and bringing Direct Provision residents to our home games so that these people living in challenging circumstances can feel part of our community.
Covid-19 has scuppered all supporters attending our games, including those who come from Direct Provision centres, but the club remains committed to working closely with them during these challenging times.
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For the 2020 season we co-launched our away jersey alongside MASI and Amnesty International, with 10% profits going to support Direct Provision residents.
To build upon this, we set aside and publicised a week of sales in June with 100% of profits to MASI, which received tremendous support and resulted in €10,000 being raised.
Given the difficulties facing Direct Provision residents who now need to access education remotely due to Covid-19, we decided to use these funds to purchase 35 laptop computers.
This will enable people in the most difficult conditions to continue with their education and improve their lives.
MASI coordinator Lucky Khambule said: “We at the Movement of Asylum Seekers in Ireland are delighted to be part of this project with Bohs.
“The restrictions with Covid-19 meant that a lot of people in Direct Provision were left with nothing to do and could not continue with their studies.
“The introduction of laptops will go a long way to support virtual learning for students in Direct Provision.
“Today we are happy that our continuous collaboration with Bohemians in support of those living in Direct Provision and mostly in support of our campaign for the system to be ended once and for all, continue to grow stronger.
“Education is our priority for international protection applicants, and we thank Bohemians supporters and all who purchased this jersey for their support.”
Sibanda and Moyr joined Grant as he collected his SSE Airtricity/Soccer Writers’ Association of Ireland gong.
He is the first Bohs player to win it this season following on from team-mates Dinny Corcoran, James Talbot and Danny Mandroiu who all won the monthly award in 2019.
The 20-year-old has been a key man for Keith Long’s side, particularly since the restart of the season, and his form saw him called up, alongside Mandroiu, by Jim Crawford for the Ireland U21s’ recent training camp.
The winger, who came through Bohs’ U19s, netted goals in recent wins against Finn Harps and Dundalk.
He said: “I’m absolutely buzzing with the award. Goals were something that I needed to add to my game.
“I spoke to Keith and Trevor Croly at the start of the year and both agreed that my performances were good but that my end product could be better.
“We’ve worked hard over the break, doing a lot of crossing and finishing. I don’t think I was getting into the right areas enough so they also helped me with my positioning.”
Tomorrow, Bohs look to bounce back from last week’s frustrating Dublin derby defeat against Shamrock Rovers when Waterford are the visitors to Dalymount Park, which leaves them in second place and five points behind the Tallaght side.
Grant added: “We can only look after ourselves. That’s the message from our coaches and we won’t be paying attention to anybody else.
“We’re just aiming to bounce back against Waterford after the loss last week, so that’s all we are concentrating on right now.”