Street Soccer Scotland has joined forces with Queen Margaret University to promote social justice and health improvement.
The charity and social enterprise venture and the university have signed a ‘memorandum of understanding’ (MoU) to support this worthy cause through research and collaborative projects in health and rehabilitation, sustainable business and creativity and culture.
The agreement was signed by Dr Richard Butt, Deputy Principal at Queen Margaret University and Street Soccer Scotland’s founder and chief executive, David Duke.
Street Soccer Scotland was founded in 2009 and uses football inspired training and personal development as a medium to empower people who are affected by social exclusion to make positive changes in their lives. This new partnership with Queen Margaret University will see the charity work with academics and students at the university to improve the lives of those who are excluded from the community.
Fiona O’May, Research Fellow in the School of Health Sciences said: “This agreement sets out a framework for my academic colleagues and students of all disciplines to learn from, and contribute to, one of Scotland’s most outstanding charities working to combat social exclusion caused by poverty, homelessness, mental health problems and addiction. There is a natural fit between Street Soccer Scotland’s aims and QMU’s areas of expertise and our partnership will provide many mutually beneficial opportunities as we work together to develop shared goals that meet the aspirations of socially disadvantaged adults and young people.
“Having evaluated the Street Soccer Football Works Academy and some of the charity’s other projects, we already have evidence of the positive impact such interventions can make to the lives of individual participants. As well as our allied health students and academics, the MoU opens up opportunities for Business students to gain first-hand experience of a social enterprise, and our Centre for Planned Events at QMU will be able to examine motivation among participants, providing key information for innovation across the charity’s services.”
David Duke of Street Soccer Scotland said: “We are delighted to expand our relationship with Queen Margaret University. QMU students and academics across a range of specialisms, will be provide us with unique insight from academia, on the ground support through volunteering and will deliver robust evaluation on our work, highlighting the power of sport to tackle social exclusion. Street Soccer Scotland have worked alongside QMU since 2010 and we are delighted to announce our new partnership.”
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