March round-up
Hearts Community Development Manager, Alan White provides an update on Heart of Midlothian Education and Community Trust developments for March.
Season Ticket Donations
The Trust has once again been overwhelmed by the fantastic financial support from Hearts supporters.
Since the 2008-09 Season Ticket launch on the 18 March, a large number of supporters who have purchased their season ticket have also made a generous donation to the Trust as part of their application.
Since the Trust was launched in 2006 we have always received excellent support from Hearts fans and supporters groups. Last year season ticket holders pledged £2,000 to the Trust which has really helped us develop and grow.
Without this level of support we would not have in place the wide range of activities that we have today. Naturally, we hope that their is continued support for the Trust this year and by the level of donations that have come in so far it seems the Hearts faithful is doing just that. Thank you to all who have supported us.
Supporters who wish to donate to the Trust can do so through the 2008-09 Season Ticket application book or through or through the online application method at heartsfc.co.uk.
Read on below for some of the activities the Trust is currently developing and how donations really make a difference to our community!
Grassroots Programme
Our new Tynie Kickers programme aimed at the 3-5 age range is proving a great success with 32 participants attending the Hearts Football Academy on Sunday mornings.
The Easter holiday courses started earlier than usual this year with both weeks at the Hearts Football Academy near maximum participation. Over the fortnight we have approximately 200 participants aged 5-14 attending a wide range of courses.
We have also launched a new Soccer Centre at Inveralmond High School in Livingston and are planning for a new centre in Musselburgh, East Lothian. The numbers at our Advanced Centre at the Hearts Football Academy are now steady with 30 young players attending on a Friday evening. Our Goalkeeping and weekend Academy Experience sessions are proving consistently popular, too.
AEGON Breakfast Clubs
Since the beginning of the New Year the AEGON Breakfast Club has launched its first two Breakfast Clubs. These Breakfast Clubs have been established in schools where there is an existing service and where the need is determined to be high.
Breakfast Clubs are delivered before the start of the school day and are known to improve attendance, punctuality, concentration, academic performance in addition to the development of social and communication skills
Pirniehall and St. David's Primary Schools have been funded by KPMG with Sighthill Primary School being supported by Sykes Global Services Ltd.
We are also in the process of developing a 'Breakfast Club in a Box' manual which will demonstrate to schools currently without a Breakfast Club how to develop and operate such a facility. It is envisaged that the final version will be ready for schools in August for the new academic year.
Clydesdale Bank, sponsors of the Scottish Premier League, have also agreed to provide generous funding which will allow us to establish a training programme for breakfast club staff. We are working with the City of Edinburgh Council to determine content and feasibility.
Hearts Learning Centre
The new Hearts Learning Centre was launched on the 15 February at Tynecastle. The centre has been furnished with ten wireless laptop computers and is open to the public.
In addition to public use, the centre will offer training to Hearts staff. A wide range of courses are now on offer and cover subjects such as IT and hospitality. We are grateful for the generous funding support for the centre from Football Aid, Hearts Shareholders Association, Willie Bauld Memorial Club and Linlithgow and District Hearts Supporters Club.
Adult Literacy Programme
The Trust has received £25,000.00 from the HBOS foundation to deliver a programme to support adult literacy. Classes will be held at Tynecastle, Spartans and Clovenstone Amateur Boxing Club and will be delivered by literacy workers from the City of Edinburgh Council. This programme will commence in May.
Kick Start
The Trust has now completed three ten-week programmes with City of Edinburgh Midlothian and West Lothian Council's as part of the Scottish Government funded Kick Start programme. These programmes have engaged approximately 60 young people who are currently disengaged with traditional education.
We have used the power of football to help develop skills such as numeracy, literacy and communication in-house at Tynecastle. An additional 10-week programme with students from the City of Edinburgh is due to commence in August.
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Support Employment
We have successfully completed our third Support Employment programme with partners Job Centre Plus, Careers Scotland and Jewell & Esk Valley College which aims to develop employability in adults.
13 adults aged 19-25 started the programme and a number of them have now progressed into training or employment. Michael Stewart was on hand last week to present completion certificates for all involved. We look forward to welcoming Job Centre Plus for yet another programme later in the year.
For more information on any of our activities go to the 'Trust' tab on the homepage.
