Sport & Safe Spaces for Refugee Families in Greece

Since restarting our programming in June 2025, Lighthouse Relief has been working to build stable, supportive, and accessible spaces for women, children, and young people residing in the Malakasa and Ritsona refugee camps. Thanks to your support, we have expanded activities, diversified learning opportunities, strengthened partnerships, and reached more community members than ever through regular programming.

Our team continues to offer football sessions to young men from Ritsona Refugee Camp. In collaboration with a local football club, we hold weekly sessions on a nearby football field. There, we provide psychosocial support through recreation, along with healthy snacks. These sessions foster community integration, build teamwork and understanding, and encourage both physical and mental wellbeing. 

Our Safe Space programming is ever evolving and growing in participation. Every Thursday, sessions for women and children take place at the Sama Community Centre. Community bonds and friendships flourish with the increase in participation, welcoming new faces to the Centre. As refugee camps are heavily isolated, with limited resources and services provided inside the camps, the need for relaxing activities and a holistic approach to psychosocial support outside of the camps is clear. Lighthouse Relief provides bus transportation to and from sessions for women and their children residing in Ritsona so they can join activities and access services, including referrals as needed. We also provide transportation to and from Malakasa Camp on a case-by-case basis to ensure inclusive access for residents with physical disabilities. These efforts contributed to a notable increase in participation, particularly among residents of Ritsona Camp, as the year came to a close. 

“I am coming here because I need some space for myself, because I am always in the camp. Here we come to relax, do some sports, drink some tea and coffee,” shared a woman who regularly joins our sessions.

In December, alongside existing Safe Space activities, new outlets for expression were implemented at Sama. In collaboration with artist Janet Lines, we explored through a shared artistic workshop the themes of belonging, hope, and memories, all while creating art pieces for a future exhibition. This project allowed women to be creative but also to self-reflect, dream for the future, share and feel understood through this communal experience. Our team is evaluating, with Janet and participants, how we might continue similar workshops bi-weekly. In one of our sessions at Sama, we were joined by the Flying Seagull Project, who provided us with an afternoon of laughter, and games for all ages. This session allowed participants, facilitators, and volunteers alike to unwind and unite with their inner child, fostering resilience, mental wellbeing, and inclusion.

In conjunction with our Safe Spaces, self-defense classes led by EmpowerVan continue to be a success, recording high participant engagement and notable confidence boosts after each workshop. Additionally, Greek and English language classes are offered to promote social integration. In January, we implemented classes in female reproductive health to support good hygiene practices, bodily autonomy, and informed decision-making. We hosted the first female reproductive health class in the last week of January in collaboration with Women Healthcare On the Move (WHOM), giving a targeted introductory lesson to individuals who can be especially vulnerable in camp environments and answering questions as they arose while ensuring privacy.

A mother who regularly attends our sessions shared, “Sama makes me feel as if I am staying back home in Sudan. We come here with our kids, and feel comfortable. The people here [at Lighthouse Relief and Sama Community Centre] are kind, they provide us with the services that make us feel relaxed, for example if we have problems they listen to us and give the best option to deal with it.”

These past few months have been a time of growth, learning, and community-building for Lighthouse Relief. Our team has participated in facilitating additional support sessions led by the Sama Community Centre, enabling us to deepen partnerships and provide activities that respond to the needs and interests of the community. In these sessions, our team has been assisting in the facilitation of physical activities (volleyball, basketball, badminton) and structured workshops (drawing, language classes and board games). 

Thanks to our network of partners and donors, we were able to organise the first distributions of necessities at the Sama Centre. In October, we distributed 500 hygiene packs containing soap, toothbrushes, toothpaste, underwear, sanitary pads, and diapers. We also held multiple clothing distributions for women, men, and families (warm jackets, shoes, children’s clothes, trousers, blankets, etc). In collaboration with Sama, Christian Refugee Relief (CRR), Eurorelief, I58 and other local organisations, our goal is to hold distributions of essential items on a monthly basis. December and January distributions have been well received, reaching over 700 community members each distribution event.

Impact Numbers

From October onwards, Lighthouse Relief has welcomed 247 cumulative participants to our football sessions. Our Safe Space sessions for women and children welcomed 400 individual participants (185 women, 215 children). Sama support sessions have welcomed an estimated  200 people per day. LHR and our partners distributed around 500 individual kits per month, more than doubling the number of community members reached through our programming compared to previous months before distribution events.

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