When change offers a new Lynch pin for the community
When change offers a new Lynch pin for the community
Street Soccer Scotland is our Scottish partner. It was founded by David Duke in 2009 who represented Scotland at the Homeless World Cup in Gothenburg in 2004.
The team at Street Soccer Scotland have always been ambitious, continuously adding more projects and expanding to new locations, but their latest development in Dundee run by David Mackenzie, Scott Hollinshead and Kyle Fraser is their most ambitious project to date.
In late 2020 they signed a twenty-year lease at the Lynch Sports Centre, enabling them to create their long-awaited Change Centre. The aim of the centre is to create a community hub where people who are socially isolated can get support, grow in confidence, and learn new skills.
The team with Andy Hook, Head of Programmes at Street Soccer Scotland, started developing the concept of a Change Centre in 2017, now they’ve got a fixed roof over their head, they’ve quickly made it feel like home. Volunteers and players were a key part of the transformation, picking up paint brushes, going on the cherry picker and sanding down surfaces.
Dundee was one of only four authorities in Scotland (Inverclyde, Orkney and Argyll & Bute) which saw an increase in homeless applications from 2019-2020. Applications rose by almost 10% in the city according to figures by the Scottish Government. More than 1,500 households were registered as homeless in 2020-2021.
With a weekly-packed programme of drop-in football sessions and local agencies on hand to support players with anything they need it’s unsurprising that people need to be asked to leave when they close the doors at end of the day.
“IT’S A WEE FAMILY”
Izzy Dye first started coming along to Street Soccer Scotland’s Dundee programmes before the Change Centre opened. A grandmother of five who hates football (she makes an exception for walking football), she’s probably the last person you’d expect to get involved in a football-based charity, but this is what’s special about Street Soccer Scotland. It’s about a lot more than the football.
|Izzy is awarded a certificate for her volunteering at the Change Centre in Dundee by David Duke. Image: Street Soccer Scotland
“It’s a wee family, you can bounce off everyone here for advice, or help or a cry, a scream, a shout – they’re all brilliant.”
“You can come in here dead low and by the time you leave you’re laughing, it just sets you up for the day. It’s fantastic.”
She says people wouldn’t like to have walked in her size 3 shoes. She’s had a tough life and is still recovering from a mental breakdown following the death of her little brother in 2005.
“My world fell because me and my brother were joined at the hip. I would have done away with myself in 2005 if it wasn’t for my kids and now the wee ones, they keep me going.”
He was only 37 when he climbed up Glenshee with his wife and two children. Only three of them came down, he died of an asthma attack. She’s determined to retrace his steps with the Street Soccer team this summer.
But she’s had her own health scares lately, both of her lungs collapsed last year, and she was forced to go to Edinburgh to have an operation which had a 1% chance of survival. Smiling, she jokes she’s not one for giving up, she’s a fighter. It’s the biggest understatement I’ve heard all day.
Her children and her grandchildren keep her going but being part of Street Soccer Scotland and coming to the Change Centre has transformed her life.
“Before I came here, I wouldn’t leave the house, I couldn’t leave the house, but coming here it gives you purpose.”
“It might take two hours to get out of the door because you’re standing with your hand over the door handle, but when you get your first foot out you know you can do this.”
The biggest fear around the operation she explains was going to Edinburgh and leaving her comfort zone. Seeing her “causing havoc” and telling people what to do at the Change Centre, you can see how it’s not only the building that has undergone a transformation.
“I’M AMAZED AT HOW FAR I’VE COME”
Another person who has benefitted from working with Street Soccer Scotland is Kevin Mcintosh, who prides himself on being one of the longest serving members at Street Soccer Scotland.
|Kevin (right) with his cousin at the Change Centre in Dundee
Kevin grew up in care and says when he joined Street Soccer Scotland at 16-years-old, he was “in a shell”.
“I had quite a rough upbringing, my parents were bad with drink and drugs, so I went through the care system for about ten years.”
Starting to go to the drop-ins after doing a coaching course, he became a regular and slowly but surely the wall started to come down. Largely thanks to ongoing support from Davey (David Mackenzie), who is now Regional Manager for Street Soccer Scotland.
Kevin explains, “Davey is an amazing character, he’s helped me through a lot of stuff, he’s just a kind-hearted soul, the world needs more of Davey.”
“I do the right things, I work in a job and come here, not going to jail and not getting involved with drink and drugs. I think one of the biggest things that helped me stay away from that sort of stuff was coming here.”
“I’m amazed at myself just how far I’ve come. My shell has opened up and I’ve managed to grow a lot of confidence and become myself. It’s helped me to become the young man that I am today.”
“I don’t think they’d be able to get rid of us, it’s like I’m part of the furniture!”
“THE JOY OF HELPING OTHERS IS THE MAIN THING”
For some of the players, being involved with Street Soccer Scotland has given them the opportunity to represent Scotland at the Homeless World Cup. This was the case for Gordon Donnelly who played at the Four Nations Challenge Cup in Edinburgh in September 2021 and at the Homeless World Cup in Mexico in 2018.
|Gordon at the Four Nations Challenge Cup in Edinburgh. Credit: Street Soccer Scotland
In 2016, Gordon was unemployed and living with his uncle when his brother invited him to Street Soccer, he’s been a regular since and now works as a sessional worker helping to run the centre.
“The joy of helping others is the main thing, making it a good environment and know that if they need you, they know you’ve been through it yourself.”
His highlight of Mexico was the carnival-like atmosphere at the opening ceremony where all the participating nations paraded through the streets.
“It doesn’t matter where you’re from, you want to represent your country, at any stage.”
He explains it was “daunting” to represent Scotland, but he was really happy to be there and to share the experience with his cousin, who was representing Scotland as well.
“IT’S THE CHANGE CENTRE, AND IT’S CHANGED ME”
For players like Gordon, Izzy, and Kevin – what Street Soccer is doing for them is giving them a place to feel at home.
Kevin might be one of the longest standing members, but he won’t be the last when he says: “it’s the Change Centre, and it’s changed me”.
The Change Centre has become the community’s living room where there’s always tea and someone there for a blether.
And as Scott Hollinshead said; “It’s only just the beginning.”