In 2024, Cross Cultures and the Ukrainian Association of Football (UAF) launched a new development initiative in Ukraine, financed by the New Democracy Fund (NDF). While humanitarian aid remains essential in the context of the war, this project contributed to the shift towards complementing relief with recovery, capacity building, and long-term resilience.
According to a 2023 UNDP report, 82% of young Ukrainians have suffered significant losses due to the war. Despite 72% expressing their willingness to contribute to their country’s recovery, only 1% were actively involved (UNDP 2023). This illustrates that too often, young people are overlooked and seen as passive victims instead of potential changemakers, held back by structural barriers and the absence of spaces to act. Therefore, this initiative set out to change that by establishing Youth Hubs: concrete spaces where young people could take responsibility, build skills, and contribute meaningfully, even amidst war. In doing so, the initiative created pathways for youth to move from being sidelined to becoming central contributors to the recovery of their local communities. The project aimed to empower young Ukrainians as leaders, coaches, and role models while fostering connections between youths in Ukraine and Ukrainian refugees in Denmark, thereby promoting social cohesion, inclusion, and capacity building for long-term development.
Youth hubs and open fun football schools
At the heart of the initiative, we established 18 Youth Hubs across 18 different regions in Ukraine. These hubs provide safe, inclusive, and sustainable spaces for young people to meet, learn, strengthen local volunteer networks and lead activities in their local communities deeply affected by the war. By working closely with schools and local organizations, which generously provided facilities free of charge, the project created sustainable spaces for youth engagement. At their core, the Youth Hubs are the result of a broad and deeply rooted civil society platform. 72 Schools, 50 local authorities, 17 military administrations, 47 football organizations, and 2 civil society actors came together with a shared purpose: to create safe, inclusive, and sustainable environments for children and youth. The Youth Hubs form a web of connections. Like mycelium, these networks spread support, knowledge, and opportunities across communities, creating resilient spaces for children and youth. This collaborative approach has not only made it possible to establish so many hubs with relatively few resources, but it has also ensured that the hubs are anchored locally and have the potential to grow stronger over time.
The Multiplier Effect
One of the strongest impacts of the initiative is a simple but powerful mechanism: the multiplier effect. Cross Cultures begins by mobilizing one regional coordinator. That person brings together 4-5 Youth Volunteer Leaders, who mobilize peers that become additional volunteers. They are trained through regional seminars in the Open Fun Football approach. Together, they reach hundreds of children and families in their community.
When this process is repeated across all 18 Youth Hubs, the impact grows exponentially. Small groups of young leaders evolve into broad civil society coalitions. In total, 1,519 volunteers and more than 19,000 children across Ukraine are now active participants in Youth Hubs.
Ivano-Frankivsk Youth Hub: A Success Story of Youth Leadership
Among the Youth Hubs, the one in Ivano-Frankivsk region illustrates particularly well how young people are turning challenges into recovery, growth and community support.
The Youth hub was established by Volodymyr Hronskyi, a young teacher and Cross Sector Network CSP network member. Together with Youth Leaders Valentyna Lopushanska, Kateryna Mytrofanova, and Victoriia Kliuba, he built a small but dedicated team. With free premises offered by the Catholic Lyceum of St. Vasyl Velykyi, the team now had a stable base to build on.
In May, the Youth Leaders joined Cross Cultures and UAF’s Youth Leadership Education in Kyiv, where they became certified UEFA grassroots football leaders. Beyond football coaching, the training gave them tools to plan activities, engage with local authorities, and manage resources democratically. The Youth Leaders built partnerships with representatives from the education department, the Center for Professional Development of Teachers, the lyceum administration, the physical health centre “Sport for All,” and active parents from the school community.
The Ivano-Frankivsk Youth Leaders mobilized an additional 52 young volunteers (52% women) and reached 1,037 children. Among the children, 24% faced difficult life circumstances, 37% were internally displaced, 21% had special needs or disabilities, and 20% were orphans or from single-parent families. Safety and psychosocial well-being quickly became central pillars of the hub’s work. The hub offered mine safety classes in collaboration with the local military administration and individual counselling sessions through school psychologists, engaged via our Cross Sector Network (CSP), which was established through our initiatives prior to the war.
In September 2024, the hub hosted an Open Fun Football Festival. Alongside games and play, parents attended a workshop on mine awareness, psychosocial support, and child safeguarding in wartime.
The story of Ivano-Frankivsk shows what happens when young leaders are trusted, trained, and supported. Even in the middle of war, they managed to mobilize volunteers and community partners to create safe spaces, meaningful activities, and vital support for children and families. By ensuring that volunteers understand their roles, equipping them with the skills and resources they need, and engaging them in work they find truly meaningful, the project strengthens their ability to cope, adapt, and thrive even under the pressures of war. This combination of commitment and structure is what turns a simple idea like football into a platform for civil society change.
“In the classes of our youth hub, we strive to create an atmosphere where each child feels part of the team. It is important that not only physical skills develop, but also the mind. In our classes, everyone can receive personal attention and advice for further progress” – Volodymyr Hronskyi, Ivano-Frankivsk region
Closing Workshop in Haslev: Bridging Youth Across Borders
To mark the closing of the project in 2024, a unique workshop was organized in Haslev, Denmark. Here, Ukrainian refugees living in Denmark met online with their peers and partners from Ukraine. The dialogue revealed both the challenges and opportunities facing young Ukrainians, whether in Denmark or in Ukraine, and underlined the importance of connecting experiences across borders. In their conversations, the participants explored what volunteering means in their lives, shared dreams for their local communities, and reflected on their personal role in Ukraine’s post-war reconstruction. Most importantly, they discovered how young people in Ukraine and Ukrainian refugees in Denmark can inspire and learn from one another, building connections that transcend borders.
Building on a Decade of Experience
The project stands on the shoulders of more than a decade of experience. Since 2010, Cross Cultures has collaborated with the Ukrainian Football Association (UAF) through the Open Fun Football initiative. What began as a simple idea, bringing children together around football and play, has grown into a powerful way of reaching communities affected by conflict. By creating safe spaces built on shared interests such as sport and culture, the initiative has contributed to strengthening youth resilience. It has helped foster diverse social networks and positive relationships that reach far beyond the sports arena across Ukraine.
The current initiative also builds on earlier success. From 2017 to 2021, Cross Cultures, UAF and the All Ukrainian Foundation for Children’s Rights (AUFCR) carried out a EU-funded programme in Kyiv and Eastern Ukraine. With inspiration and support from the SSP Secretariat in Copenhagen Municipality, the partners adapted the Open Fun Football initiative to establish a formal cross-sector child protection network, known as the CSP network. These networks brought together actors from sport, education, and social services to safeguard children at risk. Today, the CSP networks are still active, mobilizing around 3,000 volunteers who provide emergency aid and organize psychosocial activities for children affected by the war. They have also created volunteer centres across Ukraine, offering vital support to children and their families.
Looking ahead: extension until 2028
The project has proven that youth volunteerism and resilience can be built even in the middle of war. Looking ahead, the initiative aims to nurture a new generation of young Ukrainians equipped with leadership skills, cross-sector collaboration experience, and the capacity to create inclusive activities for children and youth. These skills are already strengthening communities socially, culturally, and institutionally, contributing to Ukraine’s ongoing recovery and resilience.
Based on these achievements, CISU has approved a project extension until 2028. In the coming years, Cross Cultures and our partners will continue to strengthen the 18 Youth Hubs, with the goal of gradually making them more sustainable. Our vision is to expand programs, empower more youth leaders, and continue bridging connections between Ukraine and its diaspora communities. Together, we can ensure that even amidst the war, Ukrainian children and youth have the tools, support, and hope to thrive.
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