The Recovery Football Tournament - helping vulnerable adults get back on their feet

News Section: Longhurst and Havelok Homes RSS Feed 
Publish Date: 28.11.2011
Author: K Haddock

Several groups of enthusiastic footballers in the Humber and Yorkshire Region are currently training hard in the battle to win the upcoming Recovery Football tournament. The regular tournaments are part of a wider partnership between local agencies that uses football to engage and promote confidence amongst vulnerable adults.

The next tournament, which is taking place on 9^th December at the Grimsby Play Sport, is organised with funding from Grimsby Roundabout Group and local housing provider L&H Homes, with contributions from entrants including: Grimsby Contract Links; Hull YMCA; Scunthorpe Recovery Cafe and Doncaster DIP; Sheffield Alcohol Support Services; and The Lighthouse Project in Rotherham. Further assistance was provided by Grimsby Town Football Club and Playsport.

Those taking part in the tournament have been attending free weekly training sessions in Grimsby which are run by Terry Coll, volunteer support worker at Roundabout and L&H Homes’ Housing Support Officer Brian Noble. The sessions take place every Tuesday at the Freeman Street Resource Centre (FSRC) from 1pm – 3pm with the facilities provided by courtesy of FSRC.

Brian Noble,Housing Support Officer  commented: “Football has been proven to promote teamwork and confidence, improve health and increase feelings of responsibility – and this has been demonstrated by the evident positive impact the tournament has already had on some of Grimsby’s most vulnerable adults. I feel very proud to be involved and would encourage anyone who would like to train with us to come along.”

Volunteer support worker Terry Coll said: “Anything that improves your health is great and if someone’s interest in football can kick-start an improvement in their health, increased confidence and self-belief then everyone involved is a winner.”

Thanks must also go to the Roundabout team and volunteers who devote a lot of time to organising and running the tournaments.

Clair Mcdaid, Involvement Project Coordinator and Roundabout manager, commented: “This is the fourth Recovery tournament we’ve organised and it’s proven to be very popular. We hope to confirm dates for bi-monthly tournaments for next year. There are so many benefits to the participants including building teamwork, confidence, health and interaction and we’ve found it aids recovery by allowing people to build on positive skills.”

"We’ve also been really pleased with the successful partnership work that has taken place to make these events possible. Without the help of local organisations such as the YMCA, GTFC and Playsports – along with continued support and donations from L&H Homes, Contract Lincs and from further afield including Hull, Scunthorpe, Sheffield and Barnsley – we wouldn’t have been able to run the tournaments.”

She added: “We’re looking for sponsorship or donations to ensure the tournaments can continue and if any businesses would be able to help we’d love to hear from them.”