Eglinton Football club - Diversity, Equality and Inclusion

Project code: 295

Estimated Price

£900

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Project Summary

Eglinton FC are part of the WOSF League.  We realise the impact we can have on the local community and need to make sure we see "The Big Picture" from the outset and ensure we embrace Diversity, Equality and Inclusion at every opportunity.

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Project Description

Summary of bid - We are looking for £900  to purchase 3 x £100 pitch side boards to deliver key D, E & I messages as per SFA priorities and £600 for youth football strips.

 

We play at  Kilwinning Sport's Club and have use of the Astro pitches for our home games.  As part of any Scottish Football Association league there are ongoing running costs not just for the pitches but for the referees, league subscriptions, transport to away matches and hospitality for the visiting teams.  We have fundraised, and will continue to fundraise in order to stay afloat as, being a very new team, we cannot always guarantee making enough to cover costs from the gate admissions on match days.

However we are offering local businesses the opportunity to advertise on boards around the pitch and hope to generate some income this way.  

In terms of the impact on the local community, we are aware that there are a great many youth teams who use the club for their training practices and we see this as an opportunity to deliver essential and fundamental messages , of which we can lead by example , regarding key Scottish Football Association priorities.

Therefore this bid is for:

1)  3 x £100 pitch side boards to deliver the DE&I messages of: "Show racism the Red card" which would include 2023 theme of Change Hearts. Change Minds. Change Lives., the second one would be on gender equality and an LGBTQ+ focus.  The third board would be to promote our new community initiative where local schools will compete for the Eglinton cup. 

2) £600 for youth football strips. We have met with local schools and made it clear that is not for the "usual" school team but for everyone to be involved and to give opportunities to children who would otherwise not have an opportunity to participate.  In order to make this visually separate from the North Ayrshire School teams we would like replica Eglinton FC Home and Away strips for our youth teams so they feel the importance of this participation.  Our first match with our first two schools was on 6/9/23 and a photo is attached.  The schools are currently wearing their own school strips which is what we hope to change with this bid.

We are very aware that Kilwinning, our local community, is one of the highest areas of deprivation in Scotland. According to the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivations it is ranked a "2" on the list where 1 is the highest deprivation and 10 is the least deprived.  These multiple deprivation factors of Geography, Population, Income, Employment, Health, Education skills and training and Access to Services already impact on the families of our locality and we feel strongly that our impact has to be a positive one and where possible, minimise the impact of these other factors.  We thank you for your consideration.

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Location: Eglinton FC, or "Eglinton Jousters" as it says on their badge, are a local football team who have just made the huge jump from amateur football to Junior Football and have entered the West of Scotland Football league. This fantastic bunch of lads, who all have jobs outwith football, are dreaming big and are prepared to work hard to progress within this league. To do this we realise the impact we can have on the local community and need to make sure we see "The Big Picture" from the outset and ensure we embrace Diversity, Equality and Inclusion at every opportunity.