Foyle Down Syndrome Trust play area to become 'peace pitch'

The twinning project is part of the Football Makes Our Shared History project

A play area for young people with learning disabilities in Londonderry is to become a new "peace pitch".

The move is part of the Football Makes Our Shared History project.

It pairs areas with Flanders Peace Field in Belgium, the site of the Christmas truce during World War One.

On Christmas Day 1914, a series of unofficial ceasefires took place when opposing soldiers met in No Man's Land to sing carols, exchange gifts and play football.

That patch of land, where battle was temporarily stopped, is now being twinned with a site used by the Foyle Down Syndrome Trust.

The Cregagh Green in east Belfast, where George Best kicked a football as a child, was twinned with Flanders Peace Field in 2018.

A rugby pitch at Enniskillen Royal Grammar School was also twinned with the site in 2019.

'Bringing people together'

Speaking to BBC Radio Foyle, manager of the Foyle Down Syndrome Trust, Christopher Cooper said the trust was very excited to be involved with the project.

"We were approached to see if we would like to be involved in the worldwide project and getting a peace pitch in Derry.

"The ethos of play, coming together, sharing history and lives is really important to us, and we thought we would love to get involved."

A wooden memorial cross marks the field where British and German soldiers played football during the Christmas truce

A ceremony is set to take place later this month, where a plaque will be unveiled at the play park and another placed in Flanders Field to officially twin the two sites.

Foyle Down Syndrome Trust will also be hosting a Peace Games football tournament at the Foyle Arena on 14 October to mark the occasion.

"We are bringing over 150 adults with learning disabilities together for a peace games football tournament," Mr Cooper said.

"There will be disability groups from across the north west there.

"Sport has the power to bring people together, and we are going to use that tool to bring these young people together and replicate what they did back then."

What was the Christmas Truce?

By Christmas 1914 soldiers from the Allied and German armies had dug in along a trench system reaching from Switzerland to the North Sea.

On Christmas Eve the guns fell silent.

The following morning - Christmas Day - troops on both sides climbed from their trenches and met together in No Man's Land, between the battle lines.

They shared drinks, some exchanged presents, sang carols and small-scale football kickabouts broke out between soldiers.

This spontaneous truce was observed in several places along the Western Front - but by no means everywhere.

The following day, the guns began pounding once more.

The chief of the Children's Football Alliance, Ernie Brennan, said the idea behind the twinning project was to promote the message of "bringing peace through play".

"The significance of connecting young people with that site through play is very important," Mr Brennan said.

"We bring children from communities across Europe and around the world like refugees and migrants and bring them together, and it works.

"There is absolutely no social selection in play, there's no politics with a big or small 'p' on a playground and that's very much the cathartic moment young people have when they visit Flanders Peace Field.

"They hear the story of German and allied soldiers over Christmas and just get it."