Saints net a winner for work in the community
They provide positive lifeenhancing experiences to people throughout Perth and Kinross.
And recently The St Johnstone Community Trust was delighted to receive a prestigious Scottish FA grassroots award.
Being named ‘ Best Professional Club in the Community’ proved an overwhelming moment for the dedicated and hard-working team.
Chief executive Atholl Henderson said: “We’re absolutely delighted to have won it. It’s always nice to be recognised.
“We think we do a lot in the community and that a lot of people benefit.
“The staff have been absolutely fantastic. I’m so grateful to them and all the work they do.
“And all of the volunteers and casual staff who give up their time.
“I’m delighted for them as well because they deserve a lot of credit.
“We’ve got the draw of the football club and it gets people to McDiarmid Park and some of the other venues we use.
“I think people like being associated with St Johnstone Football Club.”
The St Johnstone community department was established in 1992 with the initial emphasis placed on developing a network of football coaching courses for children and young people, along with the provision of the SFA coach education programme.
In more recent times, the nature and scope of the activity carried out has changed significantly and a number of socially beneficial projects were introduced.
It proved a great success and in April 2016 the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator confirmed that The St Johnstone Community Trust had been incorporated and entered into the charity register.
Projects across the region under the wellbeing banner have included the likes of Walking Football, Saints Circuits, Football Memories, Screen Memories and Football Fans in Training.
“One potent piece of feedback we got was for a participant in our Football Memories project,” Atholl explained.
“One woman used to bring her husband down every week and was so grateful for the project. She said: ‘ I come down here with a s t ranger and leave with my husband.’ That was lovely. “Becoming a trust in 2016 has given us the extra impetus to put on even more beneficial activities for people in the community.”
Another key project has been SAINTS (Saints Academy INclusion Through Sport), which is aimed at people with learning difficulties, mental health issues and autistic spectrum disorder.
David McPhee ( below), a community coach who works specifically with the Saints mental wellbeing project, said: “Grassroots football to me is an opportunity for people to take part in a sport they love, in an environment comfortable to them.
“It’s not about how good you are at the sport. It’s about being able to take part and enjoy yourself.” Former military man Peter Roberts is a member of one of the football projects and, after making the decision to get involved, he has never looked back.
“I kept on putting it off and off,” he said. “One day I took that step forward and came t h rough the gate - I’ve never looked back. I’m playing the beautiful game again.” i”
The coronavirus pandemic resulted in the trust having to adapt but they have worked tirelessly to remain a shining light in the community.
At times they even delivered hot meals and prescriptions to those who needed them most in Perth and beyond.
“It has been a little bit different at the moment due to COVID-19 and some of the adaptations we’ve had to make,” admitted Atholl, whose involvement with the community department stretches back to the 90s.
“But we’ve actually introduced quite a few more activities as a result of the situation that people find themselves in.
“E “Even things hi lik like f food dd deliveries li i and prescription deliveries. It’s getting us out and about to help people.
“In this particular time, they are very happy to receive that help.”
So what does the future hold for The St Johnstone Community Trust? It’s certainly an exciting one.
“We’re looking to grow and to add more projects,” Atholl said. “We’ve got a new employee starting in January - a project development manager.
“We want to build on what we do football-wise in the community but also on the social benefit projects.
“Hopefully this award can give us a wee bit of a springboard to help us do that.”