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What is Home & Away?

Home & Away is a social campaign designed to raise awareness of the lived experiences of the Asylum system in the U.K. and its flaws. The end goal of the campaign is reform to the current system so that Asylum Seekers are given more support by way of increased and improved communication.

The campaign takes the form of a three-team football game with alternate rules that creates an interactive experience for players to learn by playing. The game is open-source, with all materials being available online for clubs and groups to run their own.

The project was born out of the vibrant grassroots and community football scene here in Glasgow, where many players have gone through the asylum system themselves. Within these teams they find community and familiarity within new surroundings.

Home & Away is designed to travel. The game requires minimal equipment (bibs, goals/jumpers, boundary markers/cones) and can be run on any outdoor or indoor surface by anyone willing to facilitate it. The full ruleset and facilitation guide are available to download on this site.

We encourage community football clubs, educators, youth organisations, and anyone who wants to use football as a tool for empathy and understanding to take it and run it in their own context.

Why Does Home & Away Exist?

Immigration and asylum seeking has been a hotly debated topic for years - but in recent months it has reached new levels and volatility that we haven’t seen before.

In the past year we’ve seen a spike in racist hate crimes in the United Kingdom, many of which occur during violent and intimidating protests that take place outside of refugees’ temporary housing locations, such as hotels.

Approaching the issue through a familiar form and medium can provide an alternative experience that listening to talking heads or watching the news might not.

Where campaigns and posters can be ignored, the confrontation of playing the game within clubs cannot.

What is seeking asylum in the U.K. like?

The asylum seeking process in the U.K. is long, drawn-out, fraught with delays, and above all, opaque.

The UK Government website (until recently) stated that an asylum seeker would receive a decision on their claim, after their substantial interview, within 6 months. We know that people are normally waiting for up to and around two or three years, in some rare and extreme cases, people can be waiting more than ten.

Why Football?

Playing football requires little knowledge of a the host country’s language as well as little equipment such as a ball and two jumpers for goal posts.

As well as that, In Glasgow there is a strong and growing, grassroots, football scene. Many of these teams aim to bring in groups of people that may not fit the traditional mould of a football fan, which is precisely the importance of the existence of these clubs.

Some professional clubs, such as Partick Thistle and Hearts run teams and charity programs that aim to ease New Scots’ settling in process through barrier-free, informal, football sessions.

This game was developed in partial fulfilment of a BDes Product Design degree at the Glasgow School of Art.

The Game

Facilitation Guide & Processing Rules Cards

Facilitation Guide & Processing Rules

Cards