TUFF Iceland

Equal Opportunities For All Children

Introduction

The President of Iceland, Guðni Th. Jóhannesson with TUFF Iceland founders-Hrund Hafsteinsdottir & Dr.Shamender Talwar, playing with TUFF Iceland children at Bessastaðir (President House) in September.

Equal opportunities are the key words for TUFF Iceland. TUFF Iceland is working for all children, but special emphasis is placed on helping children who, due to social or economic circumstances, do not have the opportunity to participate in sports or leisure. Special emphasize has been put on making sure that children of foreign origin have equal access to sports and leisure.

The project started as an experimental project in Breiðholt (in Reykjavik) and is now also working in Kópavogur, starting a project in other parts of Reykjavik and aiming for the next stop to be Akureyri (a city in the north of Iceland).

The Unity of Faiths Foundation ( TUFF ) was founded in the UK in 2011. Hrund Hafsteinsdóttir, Minister Counsellor at the Foreign Ministry, first heard of the project in a lecture by Dr. Shamender Talwar a social psychologist in London. She requested TUFF to come to Iceland. In addition to the team, Friðjón Friðjónsson, Managing Director of KOM Consultants, are in charge of TUFF Iceland. Gudni Th. Jóhannesson, President of Iceland, and Pope Francis are TUFF’s patrons. Former US President Barack Obama also formally declared support to the organization.