Now that I’m back on home soil and the jetlag has worn off, I can reflect on the amazing time I had in Mexico, courtesy of Street Child United (SCU).
City Road Communications has been working with SCU for a couple of years now. It’s not something we shout about much, because that’s not why we support them. We work with SCU because they’re doing amazing work transforming the lives of street-connected children through sport.
The Street Child World Cup is a global movement for street children to receive the protection and opportunities that all children are entitled to. Ahead of each FIFA World Cup and the ICC Cricket World Cup, they unite street children from five continents to compete in their own tournament, take part in a festival of arts and participate in child-friendly Congress sessions, all designed to empower and champion their rights.
In addition to the Street Child World Cup events, SCU also delivers programme initiatives to support their ongoing mission, promoting efforts for legal identity, access to education, protection from violence and gender equality.
For us at CRC, it’s a world away from our usual work, which makes it incredibly interesting and challenging to help SCU tell the story of their mission.
The Street Child World Cup & Summit
The Street Child World Cup will take place in Mexico next May. Ahead of each World Cup event, SCU holds a World Cup Summit that involves the team leaders who will bring the players, as well as the SCU staff and some volunteers. The objectives of the summit are twofold. First, it gives the team a chance to have a test run - they can trial the chosen venue, the facilities, the logistics, and get an idea of how the main event will unfold and what issues need to be overcome. Secondly, a programme of workshops gives the team leaders important information ahead of the World Cup. In Mexico, workshop topics included safeguarding, visas and tournament rules, for example. Along with SCU’s Mexican partner, Futbol Mas, I also ran a workshop on how team leaders can engage local media to promote their participation.
In addition, the team managed to squeeze into the schedule a bit of sightseeing, a reception at the British Embassy in Mexico City for various local supporters of the charity and a screening of the SCU film ‘I Am Somebody’.
Key takeaways
I was thrilled when the team invited me along for the summit. I’ve come back with loads of great memories, and I also learned a lot.
1. Going into the summit, I was pretty confident I knew what SCU was all about – after all, I’ve been working with the team there for a good 18 months now. But spending a week immersed in their work, talking to the team leaders from all over the world who will be bringing teams of young people to Mexico brought home its truly transformational nature. This is not an organisation with vague targets; they really transform individual lives while making an impact on the future of young people and their communities. At times, it was incredibly emotional and very humbling.
2. I consider myself a pretty organised person, but the feat of getting 50+ people from all corners of the world into one venue and then delivering a jam-packed programme with everyone in the right place at the right time plus transport, events, meals, and all the other little problems the team magicked away (ensuring the right luggage got to the right place, lost sunglasses were found etc) was nothing short of amazing. And let’s not forget the team are gearing up to do this for 500+ next year!
3. I’d never been to Mexico before, and I loved it! Undoubtedly one of the friendliest places on the planet, where the people are so incredibly welcoming and are ready to help in any way they can. It’s a country full of colour and joy. The day I arrived was Mexico’s Independence Day, and it was lovely to see the pride the Mexican people feel for their country (a party to mark the day also saw me served with the largest mojito I’ve ever seen!).
Big thanks (and a heap of admiration) go to the entire SCU team and their Mexican Partner Fútbol Más México for making me feel so welcome and pulling off this extraordinary feat. It was an amazing experience. I’m beyond chuffed to have been a small part of it and am so excited to get stuck into ensuring we spread the message of the 2026 Street Child United World Cup far and wide.
