PROJECT 43
PLAYING FOR PEACE
Putting childhood back into lives disrupted by conflict.
Conflict damages far more than buildings and infrastructure.
For children, it can take away the ordinary things that make childhood feel like childhood: somewhere safe to play, friendships, trusted adults, routine, laughter, belonging and something positive to look forward to.
Project 43 exists to help put some of those things back.
Through Playing for Peace, we work with trusted local organisations in conflict and post-conflict communities, training and supporting local coach mentors to run free, regular sports sessions for children.
Sport gets children involved.
What happens around it matters just as much.
Children meet every week in a safe, positive environment. They play. They eat together. They make friends. They build relationships with adults they know and trust. They join a team. They have matches, trips, competitions and festivals to work towards.
For a few hours each week, life can feel a little more ordinary again.
WHY PROJECT 43?
In the immediate aftermath of conflict, international organisations rightly focus on the essentials: food, shelter, medicine, security and rebuilding damaged communities.
Children need all of these things.
But they also need somewhere to be children.
In communities disrupted by conflict, safe places to play may have disappeared. Families may be displaced. Friendships and routines are broken. Children can spend long periods with very little to do and very little that feels hopeful or predictable.
Playing for Peace is designed to help fill that gap.
We do this by strengthening local organisations already part of the communities they serve.
Rather than arriving to run a short-term programme ourselves, Project 43 trains local coach mentors, provides equipment and funding, and supports local partners to build their own year-round programme.
The relationships stay local.
The knowledge stays local.
And the capacity to continue the work stays local too.
WHO WE ARE
Project 43 is a UK-based Community Interest Company led by Andy Sellins and Glenn Ballard.
Andy and Glenn worked together for 15 years through the award-winning UK charity The Change Foundation, where Andy was CEO and Glenn was a founding ambassador.
Their work included programmes supporting young people affected by gangs, drugs, knife crime and other serious social challenges; creating international sporting opportunities for people with disabilities; and running sports camps for young Ukrainian refugees.
Project 43 brings together Andy’s 43 years of experience in the charity sector and Glenn’s 35 years in international business.
From that experience, they developed a deliberately simple, scalable model.
Find the right local partner.
Train local people.
Give them the resources to succeed.
Support them while they build their capability.
And create something that can continue long after the initial intervention.
WHAT CHILDREN EXPERIENCE
Playing for Peace uses sport and play to create a regular environment where every child is encouraged to participate equally, regardless of age, gender, disability, ethnic background, religion, or any other form of categorisation.
We look for five simple signs that the programme is doing what it was designed to do.
Children are:
Making friends
Having fun
Expressing themselves
Experiencing kindness
Having something positive to look forward to
These may sound like modest outcomes.
For a child living with the consequences of conflict, they can matter enormously.
They are also things our coach mentors can genuinely see, hear and understand.
We do not want measurement to overwhelm the relationships that make the programme work.
Instead, mentors use observation, conversation and the time spent together around sessions to understand how children are responding, what is changing and where additional support may be needed.
WHAT A PROGRAMME LOOKS LIKE
A typical Playing for Peace programme supports around 100 children for one year.
Two trained coach mentors deliver free three-hour sessions close to where the children live.
Food is shared as part of the session.
This is practical; for some children, it may be an important meal, but it also helps build trust. Eating together creates time to talk, celebrate successes, notice problems, and reinforce the relationships at the heart of the programme.
Each month there is also something additional to work towards: a match, competition, trip or festival.
These moments help children work together, experience achievement and have something positive on the horizon.
The aim is straightforward.
To create a reliable point in the week that children want to come back to.
BUILDING LOCAL CAPABILITY
The most important asset in every Project 43 programme is the local coach mentor.
These are the people who know the community, understand the children, and stay present between sessions.
Project 43 therefore invests as much in the adults delivering the programme as in the sport itself.
We train coach mentors to create inclusive sessions, build positive relationships, notice changes in behaviour, encourage participation, and use sport to bring children together.
Each programme is initially supported for one year and can be extended where there is a clear need.
As Project 43 grows, we plan to connect coach mentors across countries through Team 43, a worldwide network where mentors can continue their training, share ideas, learn from one another, and celebrate what works.
Over time, that network can become an increasingly valuable part of the programme itself.
WHERE WE ARE WORKING
Playing for Peace was launched in 2025 with a programme supporting Palestinian refugee children living in Jordan.
We deliver weekly football sessions in four locations, culminating in the Friendship World Cup in Amman on 21 November 2026.
The event will bring children and mentors together to play, celebrate and showcase what they have achieved.
We plan to continue working in Jordan during 2027.
A new programme in Sri Lanka is planned to begin in February 2027.
We are also discussing potential programmes in Ukraine, Gaza, and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
From 2027, our aim is to operate in at least three conflict or post-conflict locations each year.
Because the circumstances in which we work can change quickly, we do not try to predict every programme years in advance.
Instead, we are developing a rapid-response fund that will allow Project 43 to visit a potential location quickly, meet local organisations, understand the situation on the ground and determine whether the right conditions exist to establish a sustainable programme.
If so, our training team can deliver an initial five-day programme and help the local partner begin delivery.
FROM LOCAL PROGRAMMES TO A GLOBAL COMMUNITY
Playing for Peace begins locally.
But we also want children and coach mentors to know that they are part of something larger.
Our Playing for Peace Festivals create moments for children to celebrate what they have achieved together and for their stories to be shared beyond the immediate community.
Films from the programmes will be shared through our website and social channels, helping children see that their achievements matter and helping supporters understand where their contribution goes.
From 2028, we also plan to establish an annual Project 43 Awards celebration, bringing together coach mentors and young people from across the network.
The ambition is not to build a large central organisation.
It is to build a growing network of capable local people doing valuable work where it is needed.
WHAT £25,000 MAKES POSSIBLE
A complete Playing for Peace programme costs approximately £25,000 to establish and run for one year.
That supports around 100 children.
The funding covers local coaching, food, equipment, training and support for the delivery partner.
For supporters, that means the proposition is tangible.
£25,000 creates a year of regular activity for around 100 children, delivered by trained local people within their own community.
Support can also fund specific parts of a programme.
£1,000
Sport in a Box — equipment, clothing, medals and trophies.
£2,000
One coach mentor for a year.
£3,000
Food for 100 children for a year.
£5,000
Training for a cohort of 12 coach mentors.
£12,500
A six-month programme for around 100 children.
£25,000
A complete year-round programme for around 100 children.
HOW YOU CAN HELP
Project 43 is building a network of individual donors, corporate partners and other supporters who want to help Playing for Peace reach more children.
Some will fund complete programmes.
Others may support a coach mentor, equipment, food, training or another specific part of delivery.
Companies may also contribute expertise, equipment, contacts, or other practical support.
We raise our funding in the UK and use it to support programmes in the countries where we work.
Whatever the form of support, the principle is the same.
Put resources into the hands of strong local partners.
Help them create something children can rely on every week.
And leave useful capability behind.
PROJECT 43
Putting childhood back into lives disrupted by conflict.
Through sport and play, we train local coach mentors to create regular places where children can make friends, feel they belong and have something positive to look forward to.
Andy Sellins
M: (+44) 07960 476733
E: andy@forty3.info
Glenn Ballard
M: (+44) 07766 992254
E: [email]
Project43 CIC
Company number 17298053