Man behind £5m football-themed homeless project in Edinburgh shares his aims

David Duke, founder of street soccer scotland

The man behind ambitious plans for a new football-themed homeless development in the Capital is determined to use his vital experience to make the project a success.

When he was 13 years old, David Duke’s parents split up. His mother moved to Dalmuir and he stayed with his father in Govan. He was worried about his dad’s alcohol use and didn’t want to leave him. They lived together, on and off, until David was in his late teens.

“It was really, really tough at certain points,” he said. “Just having no structure in the household. Sometimes I had to go and get him from the pub.”

On leaving school without qualifi­cations, he began an apprenticeship as a panel beater. He also worked as a double-glazing salesman and later on the front desk at a branch of Arnold Clark. He had lost touch with his dad, and he was going out drinking all the time. When he was 21, his father died, aged 57, as a consequence of his alcoholism – turning his life upside down.

Ladies Captain Barbara Geddes and Mens Captain Steven Kelly with the trophys Homeless World Cup teams return home

He said: “I didn’t know where to go. Being homeless is very dangerous. My accommodation was a run-down, single room with shared washing facilities. I had no support workers and was left to my own devices. I was surrounded by chaos. My self esteem was slowly disappearing. I had nowhere to go or be. I had no plan and was all alone.”

Everything in David’s life was disintegrating and he spent three years of his life without a permanent address. He found emergency accommodation scary which led him to making more harmful and depressing choices. During that time, he recalls being subject to abuse and discrimination both from the general public and from those whose job it was to provide support.

He said: “When you’re isolated for such a long time it is difficult to re-engage again because you feel worthless.

“My confidence was at an all time low. The stigma surrounded homelessness deflated me.