Sporting Chance:Edinburgh's Helping Hands taken control of its own destiny to help its communities

The organisation was set up by Bradley Welsh, who was shot on his own doorstep earlier this year, and Jim Slaven, who still runs the operation now.

Mr Slaven said: “Our sites operate in some of the most deprived areas in Scotland. All of our sites are in the top five per cent of most deprived areas across the country.

“All this festival talk during the summer, people forget that communities of deprivation still exist in the city.

“At times the council and state-funded

charities are more of a hindrance than a help to the people living in the places they are supposed to help.”

Helping Hands prides itself in not being a charity but instead being a bottom-up community organisation that operates on the mantra of “solidarity not charity”.

During this summer alone the club saw volunteers put in 1,068 hours of their time to be able to bring boxing and football lessons to kids in areas that are extremely economically challenged.

All the sessions ran for free and saw 327 registered participants as well as 1,882 session attendees. The project ran across six sites in the Capital: Football at Leith, Niddrie, Wester Hailes, Moredun and Muirhouse; with boxing at Craigmillar.

Jim hopes to continue Bradley’s legacy forward by building the scope and profile of the organisation in the near future.

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