The final item of business is a members’ business debate on motion S4M-15790, in the name of Margaret Mitchell, on Hamilton Accies exemplary community work. The debate will be concluded without any question being put.
Motion debated,
That the Parliament congratulates Hamilton Academical (Accies) on what it sees as its success as a football club since being founded in 1874 and its innovative and thriving community ethos; recognises that, in conjunction with Skills Development Scotland, the club’s youth academy runs a modern educational apprenticeship programme; understands that the apprentices all play regularly in the under-20 team and gain valuable social skills and experience through coaching children; notes that, as part of its community outreach programme, the club houses the Hamilton and District Men’s Shed, which aims to encourage older men to remain physically and mentally active and promotes active citizenship; supports the Accies’ additional support needs (ASN) community, which offers weekly parent/carer autism support groups, helps children and families through ASN-exclusive events and activities and recently launched an inclusive football team for four to 17-year-olds; understands that, for the last eight years, the club has delivered the programme, Training for Freedom, which supports prisoners who are in the process of being released by helping them to become responsible and accountable citizens, with the aims of increasing self-esteem and identifying and making use of previously unrecognised skills; notes that Soldiers Off the Street Scotland, which helps ex-service personnel who are homeless, is also supported by the club; welcomes what it sees as the club’s support for kinship carers, people who it believes are often forgotten; notes that the club has set up the charity, Blameless, which aims both to provide hope for children and families affected by alcoholism and addiction and facilitates 12-step recovery support groups; considers that this model of exemplary community work to help vulnerable people and families is an excellent example of preventative spend that could be replicated by other clubs, and wishes the club, its players and apprentices every success.
17:02
It is a particular pleasure to open the debate on Hamilton Accies exemplary community work and to have the opportunity to highlight the community initiatives that the club is championing.
By way of background, I will say that Hamilton Academicals—or Accies, as they are known locally—was founded in 1874 by the rector and pupils of Hamilton grammar school. In 2001, the club moved to its current grounds at New Douglas Park, and it returned to the Scottish premiership in 2014.
Although I have been very much aware of Accies as the local football club, until I visited the club recently to present certificates to the club’s apprentices as part of Skills Development Scotland’s apprentice week I had no idea of the extent of the youth engagement, community work and services that the club provides for the local area.
For example, as part of the club’s modern apprenticeship programme, which is run in conjunction with SDS, the apprentices take part in the community coaching programme, which runs three days a week for children and young people aged four to 14. The coaching programme connects with young people locally who may, for various reasons, be struggling to cope. It provides the opportunity for those young people to access and receive support from the enterprises and organisations that the club supports. Other benefits and tangible achievements that the programme provides are increased fitness, discipline and, crucially, mechanisms for coping with difficulties that the young people may be facing at school or at home. A staggering 80 to 120 children take part in the programme each week, and they also have the opportunity to attend coaching camps in the school holidays.
The activity does not stop there, and the in-house community outreach team oversees and helps to co-ordinate a diverse range of projects that are run from the grounds of the club. Members of the outreach team include Colin McGowan, George Cairns, Garry King, Lisa Kerr, Catriona McRoberts and Lynn Shaw. I am delighted that so many of the outreach team have managed to come along to the Scottish Parliament to listen to tonight’s debate. It is abundantly clear to me that, as in any successful organisation, a key factor in that success is the people involved. The Hamilton Accies outreach team is living proof of that.
Beyond the football pitch, the club houses a rich variety of community activities including men’s sheds, first launched in Aberdeen and now located in many areas of Scotland. That initiative provides a social area and place for men—many of whom have recently retired or become unemployed—to gather and enjoy male company in their local community. It also provides the opportunity to learn new skills in a workshop environment.
The Hamilton men’s shed, which is located and operated from within the stadium grounds, is the first in South Lanarkshire. Here men can try their hand at woodwork, gardening and electronics, and there is also space to play board games, share hobbies or simply socialise and enjoy the free refreshments. It is to be hoped that, following the positive experience of the Hamilton men’s shed, more will be established in South Lanarkshire.
The club also works with families affected by autism. The weekly parents and carers support groups bring together a network established by the club of practitioners, third sector businesses, local charities and the national health service, in order to provide resources and support for families affected by autism. Here, once a week, parents and carers get some real respite and feel less isolated by sharing advice and through the offer of support.
Furthermore, for more than eight years the club has been running the training for freedom programme, which supports prisoners prior to their being released. The prisoners undertake working days at the club, which helps them to develop social skills and increase their self-esteem. Participation in the programme also provides useful evidence of a commitment and a desire to work when the prisoner’s review is being considered by the parole board. Taking part in the programme before they are eligible for parole helps those individuals to reintegrate into society.
Since 2011, Soldiers off the Street Scotland has been helping ex-service personnel who become homeless. An estimated 10 to 12 per cent of rough sleepers in the United Kingdom are British armed forces veterans. Here again, the club has stepped up to the plate and supports those homeless veterans in Hamilton.
Finally, the football club grounds also host addiction programmes that are well known and operate throughout Scotland. They include Alcoholics Anonymous, Cocaine Anonymous, Gamblers Anonymous, Alanon, which is a support group for the friends and families of alcoholics, Narcotics Anonymous, and the most recent addition is Families Anonymous, which supports the families and friends of those with drug addiction.
With the family in mind, the Blameless charity was formed at the club to provide a space for fun and hope for the future for children and families affected by alcoholism and addiction. That charity operates from the grounds of the stadium and has
"facilities to accommodate our community with recovery days and open days"
including festivals, play days and away days.
I think that members in the chamber will agree that the community work being carried out at Hamilton Accies is truly exceptional. Also, I consider that it is important to stress that, where other charities may have struggled to engage those vulnerable individuals in need of support, football has acted as a hook to encourage those hard-to-reach individuals to take that first crucial step of walking through the club’s doors to access help.
There is no doubt that Hamilton Accies has put in place a model of community involvement that, with the goodwill and commitment of key personnel, could, and I hope will, be replicated in football clubs across Scotland. In the meantime, the Accies are most certainly to be congratulated.
17:10
I welcome the debate and congratulate Margaret Mitchell on securing it. Hamilton Academical FC is more than deserving of having the invaluable contribution that it makes to the community in Hamilton and throughout South Lanarkshire recognised by our having the debate.
Margaret Mitchell’s motion identifies the wide array of organisations that benefit from the club’s support. They range from self-help groups, through partnership organisations with local and national Government agencies, to charities that the club has established to support a need that has been identified. There are also private companies with facilities based in the club’s stadium that deliver employment services and other commercial enterprises that serve the wider community.
The club’s support for the campaign against the Scottish Government’s decision to permit an incinerator to be built only a short distance from the community of Whitehill, beside which the club resides, was a welcome boost to the people who have been badly let down by that decision.
All in all, Hamilton Academical is a credit to the town, regardless of whether it is proving successful on the field of play. As the local constituency MSP, I state with confidence that, although the club might not be the biggest, it is certainly among the best community-based football clubs.
Unlike at Hampden, there may be no roar to greet the team on match days. Unlike at Wembley, there may be no huge arc to replace the old twin towers of the former stadium. There may be no sliding roof such as that at the Millennium stadium in Cardiff. However, any visitor to New Douglas Park or any viewer who follows a game that is being broadcast on television cannot fail to recognise the stadium’s own iconic feature. I speak of course about the iconic red bus, which is a permanent fixture behind the goals. The bus is used by several community groups and is now a recognisable feature in the stadium. More important, it is a major aspect of the club’s community trust.
The Hamilton Academical FC Community Trust allows the club to engage with many charities and local organisations and the facility provides a suitable venue to host events. That means that the local and wider community can use the stadium, and it allows ever-increasing partnership working to develop between the club and the community. The trust was created to recognise the important role that the club has in the local and wider community. A vital component of its work is to use football as the platform on which to build a close association and working relationship with many organisations across the local and wider community.
Being the only Scottish Professional Football League-registered club in South Lanarkshire makes Hamilton Academical uniquely placed to make the link between senior football and people who are in need. Children and young people are among those who can be most impacted by the effects of addiction, abuse or poverty. Unfortunately, such things exist in the community in which the club is based. It is good to know that the Accies recognise that they can use their position in the community to work with South Lanarkshire Council, the police and others to support the disadvantaged and the vulnerable through initiatives that support the community as a whole. Hamilton Accies have earned recognition for that, and I commend Margaret Mitchell for allowing us to praise the club’s merits.
17:13
I am pleased to speak in this important members’ business debate that Margaret Mitchell has brought to the chamber, especially as I am a Motherwell girl who is not often in Hamilton football park. I am not a football fan at all, so I do not go very often; I am much more of a rugby fan. Nonetheless, I am aware of the wonderful work that football clubs throughout Scotland do in our communities and the help that they provide.
I have met two Hamilton Academical players—Michael Devlin and Gramoz Kurtaj—at Parksprings care home in Motherwell. The care home has fêtes twice a year and it is a great pleasure to go along and help with the tombola. I have been delighted to meet the young men from Hamilton supporting that activity in the community and being there for people.
I have heard from my colleague Christina McKelvie about the wonderful work of the Hamilton women’s football team. I am sure that she would have wanted to speak in the debate, but she had a previous engagement this evening and had to be elsewhere. She speaks highly of the work that the club does.
Football provides a unique way of engaging with people. I know from the dementia cafe that runs at Motherwell Football Club that links to football clubs—the loyalty and feeling that are involved—are important. That makes it much easier for people to engage in some of the most difficult challenges that they face.
In looking through Hamilton’s website, I noticed its commitment to supporting addiction programmes—particularly the Blameless charity, which helps children and families who are affected by addiction. That charity does as much as it can to alleviate such problems in the community.
Another venture that is happening across Scotland, which has gladly been taken on by Hamilton, involves the charity Soldiers off the Street Scotland, which helps those who have served their country and subsequently returned to have a place in society. The charity helps them through some of the many problems that they have.
Soldiers off the Street Scotland is particularly interesting. It is based in Hamilton, but people in Paisley—my constituency—have interacted with individuals who are involved in it. They came to Paisley, where I saw some of the charity’s great work. They have a van that goes throughout Scotland; they gain the trust of veterans and get them back to the van for food, warmth and clothing. That action is led by volunteers, and it is an example of something that we should do more of, by using football clubs as the base.
I thank George Adam for his intervention. As he is a dedicated St Mirren fan, I know that he is very close to his football club.
That gets to a matter that is at the heart of the debate, which I thank Margaret Mitchell for bringing to the Parliament. At the heart of the debate is community connection. There is also an undeniable connection between rival fans.
Football is a sport for which people have a passion and a love. It can reach out to people in the most difficult of circumstances. As a Steelwoman—so to speak—I am delighted to have been allowed to speak in the debate. I wish Hamilton Academical every success in its future endeavours working in the community.
17:17
Thank you very much, Presiding Officer.
I am very happy to have this opportunity to close the debate. I begin by joining others in congratulating Margaret Mitchell on lodging the motion for debate this evening, to help to raise the profile generally of Hamilton Academical Football Club, but especially to raise the profile of the community work that it undertakes. I begin by welcoming the representatives of the club who have joined us in the gallery this evening. I wish Hamilton Academical all the best for rest of the season—although I caveat that by saying that I hope that that begins after Saturday, when they will play my club, Partick Thistle. That is a personal view, rather than an official Scottish Government position.
Football is our national game, and clubs are the heart and soul of communities throughout Scotland, from professional clubs at the top level to the local junior and amateur clubs. I recognise that there are issues and challenges in football—everyone in the chamber is aware of that. However, I also firmly believe that football is a powerful force for good, so I welcome the opportunity to focus on the positive impact of football in general, and of Hamilton Accies in particular.
Sport has been shown to improve both physical and mental health, as well as to bring communities together, regardless of age, gender or religion. As the Minister for Sport, Health Improvement and Mental Health, I have been fortunate enough to visit across the country a number of clubs that are cornerstones of their local communities.
George Adam, when he intervened on Clare Adamson a few moments ago, spoke about football clubs as anchors for community activity. I was a little surprised that he did not manage to mention his own club—St Mirren. That was most unlike him. I can say to Mr Adam and other members that I know from visiting clubs in many parts of the country that such activity is already happening.
I commend Hamilton Accies for the services that they provide in addition to allowing other bodies access to their ground to do good work. As we have heard, the club’s commitment is wide ranging and includes running of addiction programmes that help families that are affected by alcoholism and addiction, development of social skills and self-esteem in young people, work in autism, and supporting carers and men who are retired or thinking of retiring. It is clear that the club’s commitment is genuine and long standing, and is woven into the fabric of its ethos.
With regard to the club’s sporting prowess, it would not go amiss to mention its track record in developing young players and, crucially, in giving them an opportunity. The club is exceptional in that regard.
Hamilton Accies’ contribution to rehabilitating people with convictions and re-integrating them into the community is very positive. It gives prisoners who are approaching the end of long sentences a chance to prepare for their release, and it can help them to return to the community ready to be productive members of society. I would be the first to recognise the perilous dangers of mentioning the Steelmen in a debate on Hamilton Accies, but Motherwell Football Club should be included for its work in that regard. Hamilton Accies and Motherwell are working in partnership with the Scottish Prison Service to provide useful opportunities for prisoners to enable them to begin getting used to everyday life by undertaking a normal daily work routine of general maintenance duties at the clubs. The SPS continues during that time to assess those who are involved in order to ensure that they are conducting themselves properly and demonstrating their readiness for transition to the open estate in our prison system and eventually to release.
The “football fans in training” initiative, which is run by the SPFL Trust and funded by the Scottish Government, is a hugely successful lifestyle programme. It was originally aimed at men aged 35 and over who have a waist size of 38 inches or more. The programme is designed to increase knowledge of diet and nutrition, improve lifestyle choices, increase physical activity among the participants, reduce weight and waist measurements, and increase engagement in other physical activity.
Hamilton Accies has also used funding from the SPFL Trust to deliver a programme with the charity Blameless, which has also been mentioned tonight. Together they are working to raise awareness of the dangers of alcohol and drugs, and to educate, or advance the education of, young people and families with regard to alcoholism and addiction. That is a welcome development that tallies closely with the Scottish Government’s wider work in that area. Indeed, I understand that my colleague Paul Wheelhouse, the Minister for Community Safety and Legal Affairs, visited the project in January and was very impressed with the work that was taking place.
As the minister who has responsibility for policy on autism, I welcome the work of Hamilton Accies in supporting people with autism and their families and carers. The Scottish Government is committed to improving the lives of people with autism and learning disabilities and their carers and families. The Scottish strategy for autism was launched in November 2011; it is a 10-year programme that is designed to meet the needs of people with autism in Scotland. Its core ambition is that people with autism should be able to participate in all aspects of the community and society in which they live, work and socialise.
I, along with Siobhan McMahon, recently met members of the autism parent and carer support group that meets at the Hamilton Accies stadium. They spoke openly about the problems that they are having, in particular around the transition from school to adult services. Is there anything in the programme that the minister has mentioned that would directly support improvements in that area? It is an issue that was identified by that group in particular.
I welcome Mr McMahon’s intervention, and I recognise that—as with many aspects across the spectrum—the transition phase is always difficult. I would be the first to concede that we can and should be doing more. The core purpose of the autism strategy is to empower people, but we will not realise that ambition if we do not get the transition phase right. We are aware of the issues, and we are seeking to do further work on that. However, if Mr McMahon wants to contact me regarding his engagement with the group that meets at Hamilton Accies, I would be happy to hear what he and the members of that group have to say.
The point that I was going to make is that the Scottish Government will not be able alone to realise its ambitions on the strategy—we need others to work with us in this area. In that regard, it is very welcome that Hamilton Accies is involved in such work in its community.
I again thank Margaret Mitchell for bringing the topic to the chamber for debate, and I thank all those who have made such useful and thoughtful contributions. Finally, I commend Hamilton Accies for its community involvement programmes. I assure Margaret Mitchell and the people at Hamilton Accies that their efforts are sincerely appreciated.
Many thanks, and thanks to all members in the debate.
Meeting closed at 17:25.Previous
Decision Time