Two St Mirren FC in the Community initiatives walked away with TWO awards at the Renfrewshire Council Quality Awards Ceremony. The awards provide a great opportunity to recognise local public services and the people who provide them.
The event is about showcasing the best of the best and celebrating the good work that Renfrewshire Council and its partners do while working towards a joint vision for Renfrewshire.
It recognises projects and partnerships that have demonstrated what was achieved through hard work and dedication. It is about highlighting innovation in delivering sustainable, efficient and effective services to people in Renfrewshire.
The first award was for the Investing in the Future project that has been running since April 2009.
The Investing in Futures diversionary project delivers a range of activities in communities across Renfrewshire that are considered to be hotspots for youth disorder and antisocial behaviour. The project gives young people the opportunity to take part in positive and healthy activities on their own doorsteps. Between April and December last year more than 11,000 attendances were recorded at the activities on offer and the project proved to have a significant impact on these communities.
The club deliver the Street Football side of the project, taking 3 mobile football parks into areas, as well as staffing the programme.
The initiative is run in partnership by Renfrewshire Council, Strathclyde Police, Strathclyde Fire and Rescue, Paisley Partnership Regeneration Company, Arriva, Scottish FA, St Mirren FC and other organisations.
The initiative is part of Safer and Stronger Renfrewshire which aims to reduce antisocial behaviour and violence in Renfrewshire's communities.
The second award the club won was the successful Support Employment initiative in partnership with Skills Development Scotland and Job Centre Plus.
The aim of the project is to contribute to a Renfrewshire where the "Long Term Unemployed" have an opportunity to develop their skills through a personal training programme using football as a vehicle to motivate and equip those attending with the skills necessary to make them employable.
St Mirren FC is delighted to assist with the practical component of this excellent project. The above partners involved in the delivery of the project recognise the importance football can have and its capacity for developing and contributing to the interpersonal skills of those attending.
St Mirren FC General Manager, Brian Caldwell said of the Awards, "We are delighted that two of our community programmes were recognised at the Quality Awards Dinner. The club is very much a community club and the two programmes, Street Football and Support Employment, are both highly successful initiatives assisting the community of Renfrewshire. I would like to thank all our partners within these two excellent initiatives."