The Chief Executive and Founder of Street Soccer, a charity seeking to use football inspired training and personal development to address social exclusion in Scotland, says he is driven by his personal experience of care as a child – and seeing at first hand the power of community and relationships. But, says David Duke, frontline staff need better support too.

The charity works to improve mental health and help people build relationships and trust “on the pitch” through free football-themed training for socially disadvantaged groups in Scotland.

Having supported over 25,000 people with different journeys and different needs, Street Soccer also works to link people with other organisations, including the recovery space Phoenix House and mental health charity SAMH.

Speaking at the National Forum on Scotland’s proposed National Care Service, its founder David Duke said that while Street Soccer began 15 years ago, the story behind it looks further back to his childhood growing up in Govan:

“As a kid, I relied on quite a lot of care myself. My dad was an alcoholic struggling with an illness and my mum struggled with mental health, so I grew up with quite a lot of chaos around me.

“Through my dad’s drinking, my parents split up when I was 13 and I became a carer for my dad – dropped out of school at 13 and just tried to get through things.”

Where to turn in a crisis

David Duke said that while he received support through the care system later in life, for him, help started in the community:

“Back in 1993, I was fortunate to have a community which cared and understood that some people weren’t doing so well in the community and looked out for you. Everyone knew my situation so I was very lucky they would make sure I was okay during these difficult times.

“As I was getting older, my dad was getting worse – we got evicted from the house, he moved in with his brother and I had to live with my sister, my girlfriend and anywhere I could find.

“And then he passed away, he couldn’t get through his illness. So I lost him and I just shut down mentally – cut myself off from family and friends.

“I was young guy, you don’t get trained what to do when you’re in crisis.

“I was trying to crack on with work, but drinking too much or wasn’t turning up because I wasn’t in a good place mentally. Then I became homeless myself for three years.

“It was in old Govan docks where I first bumped into a youth worker who pointed me in the direction of the Hamish Allan Centre.”

Mr Duke explained that a lot of the places you can turn to – council-run hostels, homelessness shelters – can be “really dangerous” because a lot of the people there have high support needs and are “stuck there trying to survive”.

While experiencing homelessness, he found the Big Issue’s football tournament as part of the homeless world cup in 2004 which helped him to rediscover an escape he’d had since he was younger: “Football found me again.”

Mr Duke said that again he felt lucky to receive young-person-supported accommodation and a support worker formally through the charity Quarriers:

“My support worker Alice spoke to me, tried to help unpick all the stuff in my head and allowed me to talk about how I was feeling and trying to work it out.

“Other forms of care then, there was a befriending service and activities – that was all the stuff that allowed me to escape what was going on.

“All the work I’ve done within Street Soccer, we always ask: What does better look like? No one ever mentions an actual house – it’s the relationships, purpose, feeling that they’re part of something, and that they can trust people.”

He said that the peer group created through football marked the change for him, going from one support worker to connecting with more people, being part of a team and finding role models in the coaches.

A sense of belonging

Since then, Mr Duke’s trained as community worker and developed Street Soccer to provide “more opportunities for people to come together, to belong to something”.

He said it also provides that bridge for people to access to support services that they maybe didn’t know existed or were not encouraged to reach out:

“We can’t send everybody to go and play for Scotland at the homeless world cup but what we can do is provide more opportunities for people to come together.

“The need is there. It’s fine having loads of services in Scotland but if you don’t know how to get to them, or you don’t have the confidence to actually reach out and ask for help – Street Soccer provides that pathway.”

Street Soccer embeds the insights of people with experience of care and homelessness into its work – with players training to become coaches and delivering support sessions.

However, Mr Duke said beyond individual groups, sector leaders must also “buy into it” when third sector work like Street Soccer has proven it can make a positive impact and effect change in people’s lives.

He said that for many frontline workers it’s getting more and more challenging to meet people’s needs.

He told attendees at the forum that the people delivering social care and support need support and protection too:

“Outside of this room, things aren’t great, particularly if you’re working on the frontline. The frontline’s never been tested so much.

“I feel the third sector’s often forgotten about and its always there with its heart in its hand.

“We’re trying to keep people going and I think we need to protect the third sector as well as everyone working in the care sector. You’re listening to people’s challenges and trying to provide a solution, but we need to make sure we’re protecting the people that are protecting our communities.”

He added that “strong, honest communication” is needed to get people engaged in meaningful change, where everyone can play a part:

“What’s our north star and how can we all play a part? Rather than just coming here to listen alone, how can we all make sure everyone’s got a voice in these changes?”

Read more: Stressful childhood linked to ill health later in life; Anonymous spaces improve mental health and recovery; Peer support ‘crucial’ in suicide prevention; Reframing how we value carers; Charity: Tax alcohol retailers for the harm they cause; Neil Gray: “My door is open”