WE ALL FELT THE NEED TO HELP PEOPLE FLEEING WAR
“The main driving force was our player Taras Romanczuk. We watched closely how he experienced this situation and did everything he could to help the fighting Ukraine. His great dedication to the cause ‘infected us’ – we all felt the need to get involved in the activities he initiated, but also more broadly: in helping those who were fleeing the war. We wanted to express our solidarity with those most in need of help at that time,” says Kamil Świrydowicz, press spokesman for Jagiellonia Białystok.
The club and its community got involved in helping the fighting Ukraine and refugees. The club collected the most necessary products, which were transported directly to the border.
“When the situation required it, the club's employees themselves travelled with aid to the border crossing in Dorohusk, where the transports were reloaded. As early as this year, football classes were organised for children and young people from the Ukraine under the guidance of coaches from the Jagiellonian academy. We wanted them to get in touch with their Polish peers through sport and to better adapt to our country. We tried to constantly meet the needs and act in such a way as to make us feel that we were up to the task,” says Kamil Świrydowicz. “Behind every emblem is a local community. Many people ready to help. A club is not just an emblem, a building or a stadium – it is first and foremost the people who, through their attitude, commitment and personal history, brought a sports organisation into existence. This builds identity. Within such a group it is easier to get motivated, and one instance of a club's commitment to a particular cause has a knock-on effect on other teams. I think this is why the involvement of the sporting community is so visible.”
