A housing association has launched a new campaign to help young people and homeless adults in Edinburgh break the cycle of unemployment and poverty – through sport.
Dunedin Canmore Housing Association and Street Soccer Scotland have joined forces in a bid to give youngsters and excluded adults in the Capital the confidence to move into employment or education, through the Changing Lives campaign.
The Edinburgh based social landlord says Changing Lives will help build the self confidence and motivation of hundreds of youngsters and vulnerable adults, by plugging existing gaps in employability services.
To kick off the campaign – Dunedin announced it will be a major sponsor of the Scottish Homeless World Cup Team. Dunedin will provide a £10,000 boost to support the team, trained and managed by Street Soccer Scotland, as they head to the prestigious annual tournament in Mexico this August.
Changing Lives is also delivering a raft of community projects, including personal development courses and healthy living events for communities around Edinburgh offering advice on mental health, sexual health, housing, employment and training.
Under the partnership Dunedin will provide specialist accredited training as part of Street Soccer Scotland personal development and training programmes – and plans to open up volunteering, training and job opportunities to people coming through Street Soccer Scotland programmes.
Gavin Edmonds, Community and Business Initiatives Officer at Dunedin Canmore said, “We are proud to launch the Changing Lives campaign with Street Soccer Scotland and excited to kick it off with our sponsorship of the Homeless World Cup team again this year. Ultimately the goal of all the projects we do as part of Changing Lives is to give people the self esteem and life skills to help them to make a better life.”
David Duke, Chief Executive of Street Soccer Scotland said, “At Street Soccer Scotland our motto is positive change through football. By working with Dunedin we will be able to have a bigger impact and change lives of more people. And thanks to their sponsorship we will be able to secure training for the Homeless World Cup team as they head to Mexico.”
Dunedin Canmore and Street Soccer Scotland are also bidding for funding to set up programmes throughout Edinburgh as part of Football Works which will be aimed at young people aged 14 – 19 who are deemed to be going into a negative destination when leaving school.
