A project in Edinburgh aimed at helping children from Ethnic Minorities play football, supported by the Scottish FA’s Football Equity team has recently celebrated its first anniversary.
 
Leith-based charity Multi-Cultural Family Base’s (MCFB) football initiative ‘Scoring a Goal for Inclusion’ focuses on establishing links with grassroots clubs to make it easier for young people from Ethnic Minorities to get involved in football.
 
Successes of the project include young people attending the Spartans Academy holiday programmes, girls joining the Spartans girls' and women's section and the Hibernian Community Foundation providing stadium tours and free tickets to matches.

Lorrain Grady, project leader, said: "We are using football as a vehicle to promote integration and providing a safe and supportive environment in which children and young people can develop resilience, a sense of belonging, social values and positive identities.
 
“Fundamental to this project, is the development of values, skills and abilities that will help the children and young people to maximise the opportunities we create for them."

Scoring a Goal for inclusion now has over 40 children and young people attending football sessions across Edinburgh each week, supported by 10 volunteers.
 
Jennifer Malone, football equity officer for the Scottish FA in the South East region, was involved in MCFB’s consultation process leading up to the launch.
 
She said: “It’s great we have now had one year of this fantastic project. We’ve been working hard to get more people from Ethnic Minorities involved in football. It’s been a great collaboration between the charity and the Football Equity team. Here’s to another successful year.”
 
The Scottish FA's Football Equity team were appointed in April 2012.
 
Funded by the Scottish Government's CashBack for Communities fund, the team are aiming to increase the participation of Ethnic Minorities in football.