Street Soccer Scotland host Xmas event
Tuesday 25 December 2018 13:35, UK
Street Soccer Scotland hosted their annual festive football events for the lonely and the homeless in Edinburgh and Glasgow on Christmas Day.
A five-a-side football tournament was hosted in both cities by the non-profit social enterprise, who count former Manchester United and Aberdeen manager Sir Alex Ferguson as one of their ambassadors.
David Duke from Street Soccer Scotland says the initiative, now in its ninth year, tries to compensate for the loneliness some people may feel at this time of year.
"It basically allows people - those that may be lonely at Christmas whether they feel isolated or are homeless - to come together," Duke told Sky Sports News, live on Christmas Day from one of the events at Edinburgh's Leith Links.
"We come down and play a series of football matches and then after that we have food together and share gifts, stuff like that.
"Regardless of who you are or where you come from, no-one should be alone at this time of year. It can be quite a hard time of year especially if you have been through trauma or heartbreak and you're maybe missing loved ones.
"We try and recreate that and this is our football family right here."
