Street Soccer firm plans to take over community centre

Street Soccer Scotland is hoping to transform one of Dundee’s oldest sporting venues into a model for the future of community sport.

Founded in 2009, Street Soccer Scotland uses football as a way to inspire and help people, and now supports more than a thousand people across Scotland each year as well as running the Homeless World Cup.

Working across Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Dundee, they help provide training and personal developmenttoempowerpeopleaffected by social exclusion, helping them to change their lives for the better.

Now they are setting up a home-base in Dundee - and at thesametimesavingthemuchloved Lynch Centre on the city outskirts from an uncertain future.

Like many facilities run by large trusts, the Lynch Centre has been closed throughout lockdown, something which meant a huge loss of income. Dundee Leisure and Culture hadalreadymovedalotofactivities to more modern venues, whichaddedtotheuncertainty.

For Street Soccer Scotland, however, it proved a great opportunity. The charity has long been planning to create a purpose-builtcentrethatwould includesportsfacilities,accommodation for people who are homeless and a community hub where people could access vital support and information.

While that purpose-built venue remains an ambition, the opportunity presented by the Lynch Centre was one they couldn’t pass up. And, having taken over the centre on April 1, they are now looking to invest £150,000 in renovations to the complex,withfundingfromthe Scottish Government’s Social Innovation Partnership, The Hunter Foundation and The Northwood Charitable Trust.

They hope to create a “change centre” at the South Road complex,offeringlocalpeopleuseof the centre as well as opportunitiesforchildrenandyoungpeopletousethefacilities,inabidto helpthosesufferingfromsocial disadvantage.

Andy Hook, head of programmes at Street Soccer Scotland, said: “What we’re looking to do is bring in other partners that are active in the communitywhoaretheretoprovidesupport for issues like addiction, housing,mentalhealth-wecan housethemthereandgivethem aspacesopeopleinthecommunity can access them.

“Travellingcanbeabarrierfor manypeople,soofferingaccess totheseservicesoutsidethecity centre is really important.

“We have an open-door policy but our main focus is people who have been disadvantaged for whatever reason, whether through poverty, homelessness, crime, drugs. We want people to engage with us which iswhyweofferfreesessions-the football is a carrot if you like. ”

The Lynch Centre project will also see Street Soccer Scotland work with the Observatory for Sport in Scotland (OSS) and Edinburgh Napier University around a potential research project that will monitor and analyse the work of the charity in deprived communities. Mr Hookhopesthelessonslearned from their work could be used in other community venues.

“It is definitely something we arehopingtouseasablueprint, to get feedback from the community on what they need,” he said. “We’ve done a lot of research but it won’t be until we get up and running that we can really see the benefits and seewhatworks.thenifwewere fortunate enough to get another centre elsewhere we could do the same again with all the benefits.”

When the project was first announced it was welcomed bythen-communitiessecretary Aileencampbell,whosaid:“i’ve seen first-hand the excellent work Street Soccer Scotland does for people from socially disadvantaged backgrounds. As part of this new initiative the Lynch Centre will become a focal point for the community, allowingstreetsoccerscotland to help transform lives through football.”

And for Mr Hook, the importance of keeping community sports up and running has never been clearer than it is now.

“When lockdown hit us we were unable to do any sessions at all,” he said. “Within five weeks of the start, we had three cases of attempted suicide by ourplayersasaresultoftheisolation, not being able to be part of something.

“Sport plays such a big part in giving people structure.”