Get Into Summer

Street Soccer Care Cup

Damien Mack, Assistant Editor

On Thursday 12th August, as part of our Get Into Summer programme, we hosted our first large scale inperson national event in well over a year - the Street Soccer Care Cup 2021.

The tournament took place at the Power League in Glasgow with support from Street Soccer, who use football to support various disadvantaged groups and foster positive change in the lives of these people.

The turnout was great with over 40 members making a total of eight teams competing in some friendly sporting competition. The teams came from all around the country including West Dunbartonshire, North Ayrshire and Renfrewshire. We also had a Spark of Genius team and Individuals United - a team made up of members from all different places, even as far away as Inverness.

The day began with the morning session of the tournament; the eight teams were split into two groups of four, and each group was assigned their own pitch. The teams in the groups played each other once to help the teams find their level. After a quick interval around lunch time, where everyone had some snacks and some muchneeded hydration, the afternoon session began. The results of the morning session’s games were used to split the teams into new groups; the top two teams from each made their own group, as did the lower teams allowing for fair and healthy competition between teams of similar levels.

The entire tournament went ahead with great spirit, and the notoriously turbulent British weather was kind to us as the day stayed dry, at least until the final whistle had blown. Despite the real element of competition, the level of togetherness and camaraderie was noticeable between everyone who took part. Teammates supported each other and egged each other on whilst being sporting towards opponents. Entire teams who had been strangers got along and became friends, for example Individuals United as well as the North Ayrshire/Kibble team where young people of different ages developed into a formidable team. Volunteers and staff jumped in and out of teams as needed, when they weren’t cheering from the side lines, and the Street Soccer referees kept everyone right.

With the two sessions complete it was time to announce the winners, and trophies were presented to the Ayrshire/Kibble team as well as ‘Boys from the Shire’. The day, of course, was about everyone involved and so everyone who participated was given a medal. There were also two other prizes given out; two of the young people were gifted a brand new pair of football boots by Street Soccer for showing great sportsmanship, congrats to Thomas and Callum!

A huge congratulations to everyone who took part and a huge thank you to our amazing volunteers and staff who made this event possible We look forward to seeing many more of you for some more national events soon!

SECTION LIFESTYLE Edinburgh Zoo Family Day Out

Gemma Ferrie, Participation Assistant

As part of Who Cares? Scotland’s ‘Get Into Summer’ programme, we organised a Family Day to Edinburgh Zoo for Care Experienced parents and their children on the 7th of August. In the morning once everyone arrived at the zoo, we all got together in the Mansion House to meet our members and their families and split up into small groups. We grabbed a can of juice and gave out giftbags we’d made to all the children. Throughout the day everyone explored together in small groups. We visited the tigers, the penguins, the wallabies and many other animals from across the world. We learned all about their lives and where they came from.

Later at lunchtime, everyone gathered in two sittings at the Mansion House. Lunch was made up of a variety of food from chicken skewers, quiches, and hot dogs with haggis on top. The hot dogs were definitely the favourite at our table! Playdoh (one of the things in the giftbag) was the favourite form of entertainment at lunch. The children of both families played and got on with each other through sharing pieces of playdoh and were kind enough to share it with Ross and me too.

In the afternoon our group was led by two of the children, a brother and sister who did an amazing job of deciding what to see next and leading the way. They bravely posed together with a big wooden statue of a Lion who was lying on the side of the path. Afterwards, they posed with a cut out stand where you could stick your head through to make yourself look like you were one of the zookeepers or have the body of one of the animals. I took quite a lot of photos which turned out really good, a few even turned out amazing!

This was one of the first outings where we got to wear our newly designed t-shirts with our new logo. They were really eye catching! So much so that a Children’s Reporter recognised that we were from Who Cares? Scotland and came over to talk to us.

At the end of the day, coffee, tea and juice were available for the parents and children in the Mansion House if they wanted, which made for a nice round off to the day. It was really nice to be involved in an event that was aimed at our members who are parents and their families. I hope we can do more in the future!