Sport in the sun at Spartans

More than 250 children from six local primary schools descended on Ainslie Park yesterday for Spartans School Sports Day.

Pupils from Blackhall, Craigroyston, Flora Stevenson’s, Forthview, Pirniehall and St David’s took the opportunity to take part in a range of sports – from triathlon, boxing and mountain bike relays to judo, fencing and football.

The sun shone, the day was a great success and the happy kids all left Spartans with a medal!

Spartans Community Football Academy youth worker Jamie Tomkinson, who organised the sporting festival, said: “It was good to see so many children enjoying the different activities and having fun. Many of them were trying out some of these sports for the first time and it was great to see their energy and enthusiasm.”

Big events like this take a lot of organising, and among those involved in making the Sports Day such a success were Edinburgh Leisure, Spartans CFA volunteers, Edinburgh Judo, Nike volunteers, FetLor, Granton Youth Centre, MY Adventure, Fencing Fun’s Keith Cook and Kabo.

Some pictures:

More pictures of the Sports Day on our Facebook Page

Spartans Fund for Grim appeal tops £5300

Magnificent support for family devastated by Crewe Terrace fire

North Edinburgh and the wider community has dug deep to contribute to a fund set up by Spartans to support a valued volunteer who’s Crewe Terrace home was destroyed by fire on Thursday. Spartans set up an appeal for donations on Thursday evening – and just 36 hours later over 200 donations have been pledged and £5300 raised!

It’s a magnificent effort for a hugely popular volunteer – known as Grim O’Grady, Gary Betts set up Spartans Connections for players with disabilities over a year ago and the initiative has grown and grown.

Grim is still heavily involved in the setup and was at Spartans’ Ainslie Park home, just minutes away from his own family house in Crewe Terrace, when he first noticed the fire.

Spartans club secretary John McCabe told BBC Scotland news: “Grim saw smoke in the distance and made a joke saying ‘I hope it isn’t my house’ and then five minutes later his son phoned and said it was their house on fire.

“He was in an awful panic as he was worried about his pets. His whole house is gutted and his family only have the clothes on their backs, they have lost everything else. He is such a great man that we felt we must help him in any way we can so he can buy food and clothes and pay for accommodation.”

John McCabe went on: “We have had a big response from the community and Central Taxis has given him taxi vouchers so he can get around during this hard time. He does so much for people in north Edinburgh that they want to help him.”

While it’s fortunate that no-one was injured in the blaze, sadly the family pets could not be rescued and perished in the fire.

Grim has issued a statement on behalf of his family through the Spartans Connections website. Thanking Spartans, the community, he said:

“Obviously no amount of money can bring back our much loved pets but the community spirit that’s been brought about from our Spartans family is unbelievable.

“It’s incredible to see how far the hands of friendship have spread. Lynne, Jamie & myself are very humbled by how much has been given in the short & tragic time of these horrific events. It would have been a lonely horrible & isolated time had our community not come together.

“We’d like to thank everyone for their kindness, it has been such a crutch to know when we were at our lowest there were so many wonderful folk there to hold out their hands & pick us up. Showing great respect. We will be round to thank everyone soon.

“We are going to come back to our community as soon as we can find a place. We want to get back to where we belong & with the help of all our wonderful community begin to pick up the pieces & start again. Thank you all for showing such compassion and all your donations.”

To make a donation go to

www.justgiving.com/fund-for-grim

Spartans benefits from old school ties!

Local businessman Daren Henderson went back to his roots when he presented a £1000 cheque to Spartans Community Football Academy last month. Daren, who owns the Edinburgh Driveway Company, is a Muirhouse laddie, and he handed the cheque over to his old Muirhouse Primary pal – and now Spartans Community youth work manager -Kenny Cameron: the pair were P1s together! (writes Dave Pickering)

Daren explained: “When I watched the Spartand video NEN posted on YouTube (see below) I couldn’t help but listen to the youngsters and think: that was me! I was that young boy with nothing to do but hang around the street corners of Muirhouse and Drylaw.”

Daren immediately decided to support the Spartans Community Football Academy, which provides opportunities for local young people that weren’t so readily available when he and Kenny were growing up.

“The Spartans Community Football Academy is very close to my heart and it was a pleasure to hand over a cheque – this money goes straight into the coffers of the academy and helps take local kids of the streets of North Edinburgh and into much more meaningful activities”, he said. “As an extra, The Edinburgh Driveway Company will be funding go-karting and combat activities as part of Spartans summer programme AND one lucky kid gets to come and work with us for a whole week as part of his/hers work experience to give them that much needed experience of working life.”

Daren’s generosity won’t end here. “This relationship is ongoing and I will continue to support this fantastic organisation – the work they do throughout the whole north Edinburgh community is absolutely second to none.”

Kenny Cameron said: “It was great to see Daren and his support is really appreciated by everyone here at the Academy.”

For more informaton on the Edinburgh Driveway Company visit their Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/theedinburghdrivewaycompany

Dave Pickering

Support The Spartans Easter Egg appeal

Let’s make sure no local child goes without an egg this Easter!

Easter appeal

May date set for Spartans’ sports day

Hundreds of local primary school children will be taking part in a major sports event being organised by Spartans Community Football Academy Event at Ainslie Park in May.

SCFA Youth and Community Worker Jamie Tomkinson said: “The Spartans Community Football Academy Sports Day will be held on the 20th of May. Eight local primary schools are involved – we reckon that will be around 350 P7s over the course of the day!”

Twelve different sporting activities will be delivered by local agencies on the day: Kabo boxing, Edinburgh Judo, Edinburgh Leisure, Fet-Lor, Granton Youth Centre and MY Adventure will all be supporting the programme – and Keith Cook, who is a five-time Commonwealth Games medallist, will share his fencing skills. NEN, North Edinburgh’s community newspaper, has been invited to cover the event.

“Lorna Cruikshank, one of our young volunteers, will deliver a hockey station and we have a local samba band coming along to create an atmosphere and do a show for the opening ceremony!” Jamie added. “Many organisations have come on board to support the day – Ainslie Park Leisure Centre are letting us use one lane of their pool for the triathlon and Nike, who were a major part of last year’s success, will be volunteering throughout the event.

“There’s a lot of organising to be done and we are putting the finishing touches to the programme but the Sports Day is going to be a lot of fun – we’re all really looking forward to it and I’m sure the P7s are too!”

Getting it right for children affected by parental substance misuse

There’s still time to book your place on the CAPSM training course running on Tuesday 31 March at Spartans Community Football Academy.

This course is suitable for anyone working with parents with problem substance use, or their children. This will include Early Years Practitioners, schools staff, voluntary sector, adult treatment services, social work, youth and community workers.

See above for more details.

Cancer charity fundraiser at Spartans this Sunday

The Jordan Houston Trust, a charity established in 2012 to support children suffering from cancer and their families, is holding a fundraising family fun day event at Spartans on Sunday.

Jordan, who died aged eleven from a rare type of brain tumour, was a football fanatic so it’s fitting that the highlight of the family fun day is a match between the Jordan Houston Trust Select and the mighty Hibs (kick off 4pm)!

For further information on the charity visit www.jordanhoustontrust.org

£6m grants to ‘vital’ Third Sector

More than 115 organisations to benefit from Enterprise Ready Fund

Grants totalling £6 million have been awarded to over 115 enterprising third sector organisations, Finance Secretary John Swinney confirmed yesterday. Mr Swinney said that an enterprising third sector is ‘vital’ to Scotland’s future.

Fresh Start, Edinburgh Cyrenians Trust, MY Adventure and The Spartans Community Football Academy (pictured above) are among the Edinburgh organisations to benefit from Enterprise Ready funding (see below for full list of awardees).

ERF_awardees-aug2014

The Enterprise Ready Fund fund provides continued support to enterprising third sector organisations across Scotland, building on the Scottish Government’s commitment to promote a sustainable, capable and enterprising third sector.

Mr Swinney said: “We had a great response to the Enterprise Ready Fund and I would like to congratulate all organisations that have been successful in securing grants.

“Each and every one of the recipients are working in their own unique way to become more self-sufficient but more importantly for me, they are creating change at a local level. We can look forward to a future where these organisations play a full role in public service reform.

“We strongly believe that an enterprising third sector is vital to our economy, to civic society and in the creation of a fairer and more inclusive Scotland. That is why we have invested heavily to help the sector develop further.

“Organisations like Move On which operates across Scotland to deliver a range of support and advice services to those affected by or at risk of homelessness are excellent examples of how the sector is helping to create a fairer and more inclusive Scotland. This investment will help them deliver important services and opportunities to people across the country.”

Foundation Scotland’s Chief Executive Giles Ruck said: “We were encouraged by the high volume of applications received and are delighted that the fund is supporting such a variety of enterprising third sector organisations. We look forward with great anticipation to seeing the difference these awards will make in communities throughout Scotland.”

Foundation Scotland (FS) is Scotland’s busiest grant maker, making more awards to charity than any other independent funder. Each year FS clients make over 2,000 payments to charities and community organisations, about a third of which are to organisations recommended by FS.

FS supports a wide range of charities, voluntary community groups and sports clubs, giving clients a great range of causes to donate to and enabling FS to reach a wide range of community activity across Scotland.

A broad spectrum of local projects have received support through Foundation Scotland – from small grants to Pilton Community Gardeners, North West Carers Centre and Davidsons Mains & District Children’s Pipe Band through t0 a £30,000 grant to Pilton Community Health Project to contribute to the cost of a Women Supporting Women development worker. In all, 34 Edinburgh-based charities, community organisations and sports clubs received funding through Foundation Scotland.

For full details of grants awarded (1 July 2013 – 30 June 2014) see below

July 2014 awards

Swinney scores with Social Growth Fund at Spartans

John Swinney launches new £16 million fund at Spartans

Cabinet Secretary John Swinney and Social Investment Scotland (SIS) visited The Spartans Community Football Academy on Thursday to formally announce the launch of a new £16m Social Growth Fund.

The Social Growth Fund, run by Social Investment Scotland (SIS), brings together an investment of £8m from the Scottish Government and a further £8m from Big Society Capital, the independent financial institution set up to develop social investment in the UK.

SIS is using the fund to expand existing investment activity within Scotland’s third sector, and to launch a new risk capital product for the Scottish social investment marketplace. This will provide long-term finance from £10,000 to £1m with repayments tailored to each organisation’s needs.

Alastair Davis, chief executive of SIS, said the new fund will enable it to provide considerably more support to social enterprises and community businesses across Scotland.

He said: “This funding support will in turn help these local organisations improve the lives of people within their communities by making them much more self-sufficient and sustainable.”

John Swinney said Spartans, which currently receives SIS support, is a good example of how this kind of funding works to better communities.

The Cabinet Secretary said: “I am delighted that the new Social Growth Fund for Scotland is now open for applications. This is an exciting opportunity for third sector organisations in Scotland, allowing them to continue their vital work within our local communities.

“Today I have seen the great work that has been achieved by the Spartans Community Football Academy in the local area, with police and youth groups noting a huge reduction in call outs and antisocial behaviour. The facilities here at Spartans show what can be done with the type of funding the Social Growth Fund will provide.

“Through schemes such as this, social enterprises will be able to have a greater role going forward, bringing more benefits to the communities they serve.”

In tandem with this new funding, SIS has also launched a Great Social Enterprise Tour – visiting five cities in five days next week – to raise awareness of the Social Growth Fund amongst local social enterprises across Scotland. The events will provide social enterprises with a chance to speak directly to an investment manager about how social investment can support the sustainability of their business.

Monday 12 May – Glasgow: The Lighthouse, 10am till 12pm

Tuesday 13 May – Edinburgh: Out Of The Blue, 10.30am till 12.30pm

Wednesday 14 May – Inverness: The Spectrum Centre, 1 – 3pm

Thursday 15 May – Aberdeen: Transition Extreme, 12.30 – 2.30pm

Friday 16 May – Dundee: The Factory Skatepark – 12.30pm till 2.30pm.

Alastair Davis, Chief Executive of Social Investment Scotland, added: “The Social Growth Fund will enable us to provide considerably more support to social enterprises and community businesses across Scotland. This funding support will in turn help these local organisations improve the lives of people within their communities by making them much more self-sufficient and sustainable.

“However, we also recognise that applying for funding can be a daunting prospect for many organisations, as it frequently represents a change in the way they do business, moving from grant dependency to a mix of income streams. Our Great Social Enterprise Tour is aimed at addressing this uncertainty by providing social enterprises with the answers they need to start moving their organisations on to the next level to create longer lasting social impacts.”

Nick O’Donohoe, Chief Executive of Big Society Capital, added: “Social Investment Scotland is a leading example of how regional social finance managers can play an important role in helping charities and social enterprises to access social investment, through their deep knowledge of the needs and challenges of a local area. They have an exceptional track record of delivering social investment support to organisations in Scotland, and we are pleased to have been able to help them to continue doing this.”

Big Society Capital’s investment in Social Investment Scotland is the first of its kind in Scotland since its formation last year, and will increase Social Investment Scotland’s funds under management by a third. It is the largest investment in SIS for twelve years and the largest ever investment by an external organisation.

Organisations who are looking for investment should call a member of SIS’ investment team on 0131 558 7706 to discuss possible funding or support.

Case Study: Spartans Community Football Academy

The Spartans Community Football Academy is a social enterprise and charity located at Ainslie Park in North Edinburgh which uses sport to deliver social change. Their local community includes some of the most deprived post codes in Scotland. With support from Social Investment Scotland, the Spartans have invested £4.5m in the last 5 years to build first class facilities and services which generate commercial income, the profits from which are re-invested to deliver their charitable objectives.

In the past 15 months, Spartans business has continued to grow, enabling them to increase their social impact. Some recent highlights are:

Delivery of 1000+ hours of youth work based provision in 2013, including the Friday FooTEA club, where young people can enjoy a ‘hot meal’, take part in various activities and develop/grow at their own pace (a model which has been rolled-out & replicated elsewhere across the country)
Delivery of 850+ physical activity and coaching sessions in local schools in 2013, helping them to meet their 2 hours of PE target per week
Creation of 4 x Homework Clubs – using a ‘Game of 2 Halves’ model – in local primary schools, helping local schools to increase academic attainment levels
Over 1200 sign-ups for our community coaching programmes in 2013, catering for recreational -> elite players
Over 100,000 users of our range of Academy facilities in 2013
Runner up in the Scottish Social Enterprise of the Year 2013 awards

Spartans in the running for national award

One of North Edinburgh’s best known and most respected community organisations has been short-listed for a national award. The Spartans Community Football Academy is one of thirty projects from across the country in the running in this year’s Scottish Charity Awards – and you can vote for your favourite in the People’s Award.

Organised and staged by the Scottish Community and Voluntary Organisation (SCVO), the awards celebrate all that is best in Scotland’s third sector, recognising our country’s most innovative and effective people and organisations

Spartans is one of thirty organisations to have progressed to the final round of the Scottish Charity Awards, and an impressive ‘not so shortlist’ includes major national organisations, community groups, partnership projects and individuals who have channelled their energies into supporting their communities and making Scotland a better place to live.

The Spartans Community Football Academy (above) has become a key part of the fabric of north Edinburgh, offering sport, education and leisure opportunities to thousands of children and young people from North Edinburgh and beyond. Based at Ainslie Park, SCFA is succinctly summed up by Alastair Davis, the chief executive of Social Investment Scotland: “we never fail to be impressed, inspired and overwhelmed by the impact of Spartans. Their quality, dedication and passion sets them apart”. SCFA has been nominated in the Sporting Chance category.

Joining Spartans on the shortlist is another great local project, Leith-based The Junction (below). The Junction youth group and Port of Leith Housing Association got together to create purpose-built – and very popular – new premises for young people aged 12-21, offering counselling, health advice and support to young people.

For a full list of nominees and to vote for your favourite project in The People’s Award visit www.scvo.org.uk/charity-awards

Twitter user? It’s #ScotCharityAwards

The glittering awards ceremony, hosted by Kaye Adams, takes place at Edinburgh’s Assembly Rooms on 5 June. Good luck to all the candidates – but really, you’re all winners already.