Main aim of the charity

The main aim is to give the kids somewhere to come keep them off the streets give them somewhere to play games. This assist the local government in Govan areas with giving the kids somewhere to come to and give their parents a little time to themselves which in these deprived areas can be quite hard to do the Club is all about helping young people. Sir Alex Ferguson is the patron of the club a key HR member for many years and is always assisting in fundraising to keep this club going in the summer paid almost a quarter of a Million pounds for a new artificial pitch, as Sir Alex new we are in the process of fundraising for a new clubhouse to be built in conjunction with Braehead shopping Centre as well.

How the employee got involved and why

My son was asked by a neighbor to come down and try out for a local team called Harmony Row at Braehead, When my son went down for trials could see they were struggling for Coaches after talking to a member of the club to what Harmony Row was all about what this youth club charity was looking to achieve. The Director asked myself to become a Coach said yes wanted to get in to Coaching as I love football also on the end of a career ending injury so felt it was a bit early to give up so look to pass on my knowledge experience to these kids.

What work does the employee do for charity?

I am the 2005 under 15 football coach were I take on the running of the youth club. was asked by the club shortly after joining to become the head coach, which I was delighted to say yes. The day to day running of the club. We train on a Monday Wednesday and Friday night with games on a Saturday and Sunday, sort of timings etc. 4 hours each training night then about the same for games Then the admin side of things is incredible you would not believe just how much needs to be in place before you can actually just go and Train the boys. this takes around 3 to 4 hours a week minimum. Start of the season took around a week to get all admin in place, You start with signing the boys to the league then to the Scottish Youth Association then you have to get permission from the parents for insurance purposes. Games you need team lines contact the away team home team also the referee inviting him to referee the game then you have to pay for the park and the referee himself, Tournaments admin for these as well, Down to the coaching you have to Pass specialist courses which enables you to train coach the kids this must be in place so you have to take time off to attend and pass, also making sure you complete Health and Safety modules and First Aid as well. On a training night then you could take up to a hour for yourself to put drills in place for that evening then team talks, picking up the kids it is dark you do not want them walking down to the club. On game day make sure the referee is coming keep in contact with the opposition team then make sure all our boys can get to the game Kits are in place in the car balls for them to play with cones for drills first aid kits in case of any injuries that happen, Fundraising some of our kids are from really deprived areas where they cannot afford to pay much each month, so we arrange some bag packing in local supermarkets football cards to sell sponsored walks runs silences cycling, Also DHL Foundation over the last year have matched our fundraising achievements for the club also my volunteer work as well, We also have two local companies who sponsor the first team kit and the away kit the club bought the tracksuits for the boys as well training kit still need to be ordered awaiting a parent contacting me to say whether his company can sponsor that kit, At Christmas the parents all chip in and try to get the boys a selection box and a night out,