AVIVA Ireland’s new #LaceUpWithPride campaign aims to raise vital funds for BeLonG To Youth Services. They have teamed up with Intersport Elverys to sell rainbow shoelaces for €4 with all proceeds donated, and encouraged the sporting community to get involved!
Moninne Griffith, BeLonG To CEO, commented on the campaign: “Pride celebrates many of the same values that we associate with sport, such as diversity, inclusion, self-acceptance and self-expression. Unfortunately, as our research shows, sport is still a place where young members of the LGBTI+ community do not feel accepted.”
According to research commissioned by BeLonG To Youth Services, sport is still a place where young members of the LGBTI+ community in Ireland do not feel accepted. Included in a new report showing the impact of Covid-19 on LGBTI+ youth, it was noted that 23% of LGBTI+ young people regarded their physical health as ‘very bad’ or ‘bad’.
In a statement made to the Oireachtas Sub-Committee on Mental Health, Moninne Griffith, called for an increase in “investment in evidence based programmes and training to help create sports clubs that are safe, supportive and welcoming for young LGBTI+ people.”
There are numerous barriers stopping LGBTI+ youth from engaging in sports and other physical activities, including; mental health challenges, depression, struggles with body image and eating disorders. The #LaceUpWithPride campaign aims to show solidarity in the sporting community of Ireland, to help address and confront these barriers. The laces are available in selected stores and online.
AVIVA is appealing for the wider sporting community to “open back up with Pride” and promote an environment of diversity and inclusion. And on Wednesday 23rd of June they are calling on the Irish sporting community to wear their rainbow laces with Pride in solidarity with the LGBTI+ community.
They are also running a competition in which you could win a ticket to every Irish Rugby and FAI game in the AVIVA stadium in 2022. To enter, share a photo of your rainbow shoe laces and show them how you #LaceUpWithPride! Check out their website for details.
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