The Mandela Unity Cup will also mark the end of Refugee Week 2008, under this year’s theme Different Pasts, Shared Future.

The popular CARE Mandala Unity Cup is a FREE 5-a-side football tournament open to all young people aged between 16 – 25 yrs. The Cup builds on the success of previous tournaments, and aims to bring together young people from different communities in order to build bridges between different groups.

The Mandela Unity Cup provides the opportunity for local young people to meet others from different backgrounds, and to build new relationships. This year the event is being held as part of the Great Get Together on the Saturday 21 June 2008, at the Royal Artillery Barracks in Woolwich. The Great Get Together is a free, fun filled event for all the family, where you also have the opportunity to ‘have your say’ on local issues.

The Mandela Unity Cup model is distinctive, in that it is based on a non-traditional method of selecting teams, where the players register in advance and are then divided into mixed teams. This provides the opportunity for young people to inter-act with members from other communities, and can have a real impact in helping to develop positive community relationships. Significantly, the Cup also provides a fun, enjoyable and healthy way for young people, regardless of their background, to ‘come together as one’.

CARE is an award-winning partnership led by Greenwich Council and Charlton Athletic Football Club. Charlton Athletic Football Club has a remarkable history of delivering a wide range of community programmes designed to promote social inclusion and build community cohesion. Alongside its internationally renowned Community Trust, and through its award-winning partnership with Greenwich Council, the CARE Partnership forms an integral part of ”one of the most extensive community schemes . . . seen anywhere in Europe”.

CARE was set up in the mid 1990s, with an initial focus on developing projects to promote anti-racism. Over the years CARE’s work has expanded considerably, and now embraces a much wider equality and diversity agenda, with a particular focus on building positive community relations by tackling inequality and discrimination.

CARE is a unique partnership and has an impressive track record of delivering a diverse and comprehensive range of community projects, using multi-sports and inter-active arts based programmes to promote cohesion, interaction and inclusion. An independent Commission on Integration Cohesion (CIC), whose landmark report looked at how to build strong communities in England, recently acknowledged CARE’s pioneering work as an example of Best Practice.

Any one interested in playing in the tournament, or helping out on the day, should contact the CARE Partnership on 020 8293 5355