Welsh football fans to spread some ‘joie’ in Brussels

Wales football fans charity Gôl Cymru! will again be making a donation to a children’s charity before Wales’s UEFA Nations League match in Brussels.

The Red Wall fans will be visiting La Cité Joyeuse, a children’s facility which is currently home to some 200 children of all ages. Gôl visited the home and saw the superb work it is doing before our games against Belgium in 2013 and again in 2014.

La Cité Joyeuse, ‘The Home for Orphans,’ was created in 1914 by Doctor Ovide Decroly in order to provide a home for the many children who were orphaned during the First World War. Today it continues its mission of helping children in difficulty. Various specialised units work together to support young people and their families. The multidisciplinary teams (educational, medical and psychological) work to improve the quality of life and the social and educational integration of the children.

Gôl Cymru! will be donating €1,000 to buy a special tablet to help the children at the home. Najat Mohdad from La Cité Joyeuse said, ‘The occupational therapy department welcomes 50 children a year with motor difficulties. We constantly need equipment adapted to their needs to support them.’

The tablet Gôl Cymru! is buying has unique features which make it easier for children with physical challenges to handle. Ms Mohad said, ‘The entire team of occupational therapists thank you from the bottom of our hearts for your donation and we will strive to make good use of it for all our extraordinary children.’

The Wales fans will be holding a pre-match party for Gôl Cymru! at O’Reilly’s Pub, Place de la Bourse 1, 1000 Bruxelles from 2pm – 7pm on matchday. There will be a chance to win a Wales shirt signed by the team as the Red Wall once again to show its generosity and says thank you to our hosts in Belgium.

Helen Lucitt from Gôl Cymru! said, ‘It will be good to go back to visit Cité Joyeuse. Over the years we’ve seen the superb work they have been doing caring for children in need. We like to think we leave a little bit of Wales behind us wherever we go, so as we all look forward to the World Cup in Qatar, it’s great to see the Welsh fans digging deep once again for charity.’

The fans’ charity was busy during the last round of Nations League fixtures in June. It joined forces with a Polish organisation to help young refugees from the war in Ukraine. The Notice Me Foundation has built a shelter in Wroclaw for 200 children and women who are escaping the hell of the war.

Gôl Cymru then teamed up with the Johan Cruyff Foundation in Rotterdam before our match against Holland. The Foundation was set up by one of the world’s greatest footballers to support projects for children with special needs and offers outdoor sports facilities for young people in deprived areas.

Gôl Cymru supports children’s charities whenever the national team plays. Founded in Azerbaijan in 2002 by fans who ‘wanted to make a difference’ it has been active in more than 40 countries.

Information and pictures of previous Gôl Cymru visits are available at www.gol.wales or www.gol.cymru

If you would like to help Gôl Cymru’s work you can donate here – www.justgiving.com/gol