News

Last week the Foundation hosted Wider Achievement football tournaments at the Ibrox Community Complex.

Participants from 19 of the Foundation’s Wider Achievement schools took to the field across two days for seven-aside games with John Paul Academy and Kings Park Secondary School winning on days one and two respectively.

Our Wider Achievement programme has helped young people across Glasgow and beyond re-engage with their education to help them build a brighter future.

We work with a variety of schools to support pupils who may not be engaging optimally but could benefit from a different learning environment.

Pupils come to Ibrox Stadium one day a week to gain qualifications, get exposure to industry partners, vocational training and develop their skills.

Whitehill Secondary School pupil, Jakob spoke after the tournament. He said:

“The tournament was really fun. Obviously if we could have won a couple of more games then we might have been in with a chance of winning the tournament but you can’t win them all. It was a great opportunity to get out of school and link up with other people as well.”

“Wider Achievement has been a great experience.”

“It’s been good in terms of me being able to come here and work towards SQA qualifications and the environment is great to be in as well. I feel like I benefit from that and that makes me want to learn more.”

Following the conclusion of the tournament, Rangers legend and Club Ambassador John Brown presented the winning teams with a trophy and a Foundation goody bag.

Remarking on the tournament and the programme, Brown said:

“It was great to be here today for the Rangers Charity Foundation’s Wider Achievement tournament. It’s fantastic to see all the young people out here really mixing with each other and working hard down at the Ibrox Community Complex.

“I think it’s massively important that the Foundation engages with young people who are maybe struggling in school or have challenging backgrounds. The pupils are out here doing something that they might not have the chance to do otherwise.

“Programmes like Wider Achievement are hugely important to young people in the local community and beyond and it’s a testament to the Foundation what they’re able to provide these young people.”

The Wider Achievement course is delivered within the Ibrox Community Hub which is a SQA Approved Centre.

This allows us to offer participants the chance to complete SQA qualifications recognising wider achievement and the development of skills, which will help learners to succeed in today’s world.

The course recognises the life and work skills that come from a wide range of activities which can include sport, mentoring, voluntary work or fundraising activities — whether they take place at school, college or elsewhere.

Foundation Community Programmes Manager, Jamie Duncanson, added:

“The SQA Wider Achievement programme is one of the Foundation’s flagship projects. It offers secondary school pupils a vocational option within the school curriculum. We currently have about 250 young people from 21 different schools across five local authorities.”

“The young people come to Ibrox for one day a week throughout the full school term where they gain 100 hours’ worth of SQA awards. Crucially they also gain vocational sector exposure when they link in with our employability partners.”

“Today is really a reward for their hard work and endeavour that they’ve put in throughout their time with us.”

“We have a fantastic group of staff that are fully qualified which consists of full-time charity staff as well as our community coaches. They have been outstanding this year in delivering the course and a special mention also goes to our Community Executive, Nicole Pullar, who coordinated the delivery of the programme this year in what can sometimes be a particularly challenging environment.”

For further information on Wider Achievement or any of our education focussed community programmes please contact Jamie Duncanson on: jamieduncanson@rangers.co.uk or 0141 580 8740.