Wales sends teams to first homeless Four Nations Challenge Cup

A Welsh men's and women's team will enter the homeless Four Nations Challenge Cup in Scotland

Wales will send teams to the first ever homeless Four Nations Challenge Cup in Edinburgh this weekend.

The tournament follows the Homeless World Cup, which was held in Cardiff in 2019.

Teams from Wales, England, Scotland, and Northern Ireland will take part.

Actor Michael Sheen, who "put it all on the line" to finance the 2019 event after funding fell through, said the events help tackle the "basic unfairness" in our society.

The Homeless World Cup has been an annual event since 2001, hosted in cities such as Melbourne and Rio.

The goal of the project is to change the lives of homeless people while also tackling public perceptions and stereotypes of homelessness.

After two postponed events because of the pandemic, the smaller UK tournament has been arranged by the Homeless World Cup Foundation, with charity Street Football Wales in charge of the Welsh teams.

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Michael Sheen has been heavily involved with the foundation and Street Football Wales since the world cup in Cardiff.

"I just thought I'll throw everything at this that I possibly can to make sure that... all around the world, some of the most vulnerable people going through the hardest times have this opportunity," Sheen said.

"People talk about being given a second chance, well a lot of these people never had a first chance, so I wanted to be able to do whatever I could to be able to help with that."

Mr Sheen said he was disappointed they were unable to use the momentum of the 2019 World Cup to push things forward, because of the pandemic

Mr Sheen said such events were about assisting people who "find themselves in difficult circumstances and there not being given the adequate support and help because of where they're born or where they from, and that's not fair".

"Whether its homelessness or coming through the care system, or whatever it might be, I think there's a basic unfairness that's around and we as a society should try and do our best to right that balance," he added.

'How can it get any better?'

Lloyd Jones says he is feeling "nervous but also very excited"

Representing Wales, Lloyd Jones, from Merthyr Tydfil, was previously homeless and said events like this had benefitted his mental health.

"I was homeless for a time, you've always got someone worse off than yourself, but at the time I just got through it, I did what I had to do," Mr Jones said.

"I kept my head down and knuckled under, and being here today playing football, there's no better feeling.

"Being a part of this team, with a group of good boys, it does help my mental health a lot.

"I'm going to Scotland on Friday, I'm part of a big tournament representing my country, how can it get any better than that?"

Caitlin Thomas is the development officer for Street Football Wales

Caitlin Thomas is in charge of the women's national team, and said the impact the tournament was having on the players is clear.

"It's been massive for them, a lot of them have been making comments to me saying how much of a positive impact this is having on them," she said.

"A lot of them are still having struggles now and it's a sort of a distraction with our weekly training and the build-up to this competition."

Scott Jeynes of Street Football Wales says the event is having real impact on the players' lives

Scott Jeynes, project manager for Street Football Wales, is in charge of the men's national team.

"A lot of our players suffer with anxiety and depression, and our guys come out here every day with smiles on their faces when we're training," he said.

The Four Nations Challenge Cup will take place between 18 and 19 September.

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