Hölstein, Switzerland As part of our continuing mission to bring Change for the Better, we’re delighted to announce our support of a pioneering volunteer refugee swimming project run by the French non-profit organisation Welcome 66 and championed by UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador and Oris Ambassador Yusra Mardini.
Welcome 66 was established in 2018 in Perpignan, France, and works with unaccompanied minors, asylum seekers and refugees to help them integrate professionally and socially into their adopted societies through a variety of activities, such as language classes, IT training and cooking workshops.
The Yusra Mardini Foundation, which was founded by IOC Refugee Olympic Athlete Yusra last year and which is also an Oris Sustainability Partner, is now supporting a volunteer-led Welcome 66 project that provides free swimming lessons to refugees and asylum seekers on the beaches of Perpignan, France.
Many asylum seekers and refugees fleeing war, violence and displacement who reach the south of France have crossed the Mediterranean Sea. Often this requires a traumatic, life-threatening journey: many cannot swim and their first encounter with water is when they board an overcrowded boat, taking enormous personal risks to reach peace and safety.
Because of this, Welcome 66’s trainers draw alongside the programme’s participants and first help them overcome their fears, before teaching them how to swim. But budget restrictions have limited what Welcome 66 can offer. Classes run once a week during the warmer months, and not at all over the winter.
But now, with the support of the Yusra Mardini Foundation, Welcome 66 has been able to restart the programme. What’s more, the foundation’s support means Welcome 66 will have the funds to extend its summer sports programme. For many asylum seekers and refugees, learning to overcome their fears and to swim is the first step towards fulfilling much bigger dreams.
Since fleeing civil war in her home country of Syria and then representing the IOC’s Refugee Olympic Team in two Olympic swimming competitions, Yusra has become a powerful international agent of change, raising awareness of the profound challenges that face refugees and asylum seekers on settling in a foreign land where they have no status and often no local language skills.
Yusra told her story in the book “Butterfly”, which was made into the acclaimed Netflix film “The Swimmers”. In 2017, she became the UNHCR’s youngest-ever Goodwill Ambassador and last year, she and her sister Sarah were listed in Time 100, an annual list of the most influential people in the world. Yusra established the Yusra Mardini Foundation in 2023, giving her a platform to advocate for displaced people. Her remarkable life story demonstrates how in spite of trauma, hardship and loss, refugees and asylum seekers can still achieve their dreams.
Oris and Yusra began collaborating last summer. According to the UNHCR, there are now more than 110 million displaced people around the world, and together with Yusra, we are looking to be part of the solution.
Yusra said: “Our foundation is dedicated to promoting our goals for refugees, ensuring they have access to the opportunities they need to thrive. Welcome 66 is the perfect fit for us and we’re thrilled to be supporting this powerful, life improving swimming project. My collaboration with Oris is an affair of the heart, based on the pursuit of positive change. Together, we have the opportunity to promote concrete actions that improve people’s lives and help refugees realise their dreams.”
Oris Co CEO Rolf Studer said: “It continues to be an enormous joy to work with Yusra and the Yusra Mardini Foundation. We share a common goal to act on our social responsibilities as citizens of the world and to bring Change for the Better. It is a true honour to partner with Yusra and the UNHCR and to support Welcome 66 and its life changing swimming programme. As we always say, it’s only together that we will bring Change for the Better.”
For more information on the Yusra Mardini Foundation, visit yusramardinifoundation.org. For Welcome 66, visit welcome66.fr.
Yusra Mardini will be speaking at the Oris Keynote at Watches and Wonders Geneva on 11 April, 2pm CET. Registered visitors will be able to follow the livestream at watchesandwonders.com. The keynote will also be available on catch-up to all users after the show.
