Ayr United Football Academy Climate Challenge Fund Final Report CCF – 3529 September 2014 to March 2016 FreshAyr, GreenAyr, CleanAyr www.AUFA.org.uk Registered Charity No. - SCO37325
Ayr United Football Academy
Climate Challenge Fund
Final Report
CCF – 3529
September 2014 to March 2016
FreshAyr, GreenAyr, CleanAyr
www.AUFA.org.uk
Registered Charity No. - SCO37325
Ayr United Football Academy – CCF 3529 – Final Report 2
Contents
Starting Point .................................................................................................................... page 3
Headline Achievements ................................................................................................... page 5
Project Breakdown ............................................................................................................ page 6
Outcomes ........................................................................................................................ page 18
Output Grid ..................................................................................................................... page 19
Learning & Reflection ...................................................................................................... page 20
Finance & Administration ............................................................................................... page 21
Ayr United Football Academy – CCF 3529 – Final Report 3
Starting Point
Organisation Background
Ayr United Football Academy (AUFA) has been an established charity since 2005. The purpose of
AUFA is to promote sport, health and education through football to people in South Ayrshire.
Objectives include the promotion and protection of the wellbeing and physical health of the
community and the provision of health education.
AUFA is incorporated as a not for profit company limited by guarantee and is a Scottish Charity. Our
current members are Ayrshire and Arran NHS, Ayrshire College, South Ayrshire Council, Ayr United
Football Club and Ayr United Community Initiative (The Honest Men’s Trust).
Application Process
In January 2014 the Academy was invited to a Scottish FA Seminar which facilitated an opportunity
for Community Clubs to learn about the Climate Challenge Fund and its objectives. This provided a
catalyst for us to reflect on current practice and to seek a sustainable solution through this funding
source. In tandem with this, the Academy has known for some time that the current practices in
terms of the recycling of football strips and boots, and the washing and drying of football strips were
far from ideal. To this end we embarked on a consultation process with all of our key stakeholders.
The messages received in terms of change and the need to adapt to the new eco realities meant the
need for a step change. Our parents, coaches and the young people themselves delivered a strong
message that there must be a better and more productive way to deal with the waste of old boots
and strips and the current limitations of old washing machines and tumble drying equipment in
dealing with dirty strips were emphasised. The consultation process sent the Academy a clear
message that we needed to become more sensitive and responsive to the green agenda and that by
seeking support from the Climate Challenge Fund we ensured a step change in practice and leave a
positive legacy for generations to come.
Funding Award
In June 2014, Ayr United Football Academy were awarded funding of £126,821.12 from the Climate
Challenge Fund over a period of 19 months, from September 2014 to March 2016, to deliver the
project FreshAyr, GreenAyr, CleanAyr.
The main objectives of the funding were:
Reduced C02e through the introduction of a more efficient kit drying system. (65.66t CO2e)
o Based over 10 years with an estimated saving of 6.566 tonnes of CO2e each year.
Reduced C02e of travel related behaviour connected to football community (1385 t CO2e)
Ayr United Football Academy – CCF 3529 – Final Report 4
o Based over 5 years with an estimated saving of 277 tonnes of CO2e each year
Reduced C02e in the local football community through reusing useful kit and equipment
thereby diverting from landfill (111.55 t C02e)
o Based over 5 years with an estimated saving of 111.55 CO2e each year
Increased awareness of reduce/reuse/recycle in local sporting community
Increased awareness of climate change
Reduced costs of participation in sport
Ayr United Football Academy – CCF 3529 – Final Report 5
Headline Achievements
Drying Room
Reduced a total of 8.55 Tonnes of CO2 in the first year through the introduction of a drying
room, replacing the previous use of tumble dryers.
To date, 11.23 Tonnes of C02 has been reduced through the implementation of the drying
room.
An estimated 95.23 CO2 Tonnes will be saved after 10 years, 29.67 CO2 Tonnes more than
the original calculation of 65.66 tonnes
Kit Recycling
A total weight of 1225.2kg of football kit has been diverted away from landfill through our
kit recycling programme. This equates to 27.23 Tonnes of CO2 which has been saved.
A total of 784.3kg or 17.49 Tonnes of CO2 has been recycled back into the local community.
Primary School Delivery
A final figure of 3353 children participated in the FreshAyr, GreenAyr, CleanAyr project and
increased their knowledge of Climate Change.
It was recorded that 2195 children changed their behaviour positively towards Climate
Change.
Over the course of the project a total of 568 primary school visits occurred involving primary
schools across South Ayrshire
Travel Awareness
161000 miles of travel reduced through car sharing.
605 Tonnes of C02 saved through saved journeys.
Lifetime saving of 3025 Tonnes of C02 saved through reducing car miles.
Ayr United Football Academy – CCF 3529 – Final Report 6
Project Breakdown, Outcomes and Outputs
Staff
The funding from Climate Challenge Fund enabled AUFA to employ a two full time and one part time
staff members, along with a number of sessional staff. The Project Manager and Education Officer
worked full time on the project with the Kit and Boot Officer working 20 hours. The Project Manager
was responsible for the overall management of the project, including monitoring energy usage, line
management of staff, and management of the overall budget. The Education Officer was responsible
for the delivery of events and the primary school programme as well as the travel awareness. The Kit
and Boot Officer was responsible for recycling, washing, drying and storage of kit.
Drying Room
The drying room was constructed by Ramelectrials at a total cost of £8,974.80. The drying room
(pictured below) opened in November 2014 and after a bedding in period until the end of the year,
we started to record the total savings which clearly outlined the benefit of the drying room. The
tables below are broken down into information of what the CO2 usage would have been under the
old methods of using tumble dryers in comparison to the new drying room. Furthermore, there is
also information which compares the costs between the two methods.
(The picture on the left is of the drying room when it first opened and the second picture, on the
right, is after the improvement were made)
Ayr United Football Academy – CCF 3529 – Final Report 7
Drying Room Stats for 2015
The drying room data was collected through an energy usage device provided by efergy.com. The
device summarised how much CO2 was used per day, week and month. It also supplied information
on the cost.
Month CO2 Usage before CO2 Usage Now CO2 Savings
January 2015 0.74 CO2 Tonnes 0.13 CO2 Tonnes 0.62 CO2 Tonnes
February 2015 0.63 CO2 Tonnes 0.11 CO2 Tonnes 0.52 CO2 Tonnes
March 2015 0.77 CO2 Tonnes 0.15 CO2 Tonnes 0.62 CO2 Tonnes
April 2015 1.09 CO2 Tonnes 0.32 CO2 Tonnes 0.77 CO2 Tonnes
May 2015 1.09 CO2 Tonnes 0.18 CO2 Tonnes 0.63 CO2 Tonnes
June 2015 1.32 CO2 Tonnes 0.35 CO2 Tonnes 0.97 CO2 Tonnes
July 2015 0.92 CO2 Tonnes 0.26 CO2 Tonnes 0.66 CO2 Tonnes
August 2015 0.97 CO2 Tonnes 0.30 CO2 Tonnes 0.68 CO2 Tonnes
September 2015 0.88 CO2 Tonnes 0.21 CO2 Tonnes 0.67 CO2 Tonnes
October 2015 1.11 CO2 Tonnes 0.32 CO2 Tonnes 0.78 CO2 Tonnes
November 2015 1.30 CO2 Tonnes 0.34 CO2 Tonnes 0.96 CO2 Tonnes
December 2015 0.95 CO2 Tonnes 0.27 CO2 Tonnes 0.68 CO2 Tonnes
Totals 11.78 CO2 Tonnes 2.95 CO2 Tonnes 8.55 CO2 Tonnes
As you can see from the information above, the new drying room was more energy efficient than
our previous methods, only using a total 2.95 CO2 Tonnes over the year.
Cost Saving Stats for 2015
The information below compares the two methods of drying our football kits over the full year.
Month Cost Before Cost Now Cost Savings
January 2015 £112.55 £27.37 £85.18
February 2015 £95.85 £23.86 £71.99
March 2015 £116.18 £32.38 £83.80
April 2015 £165.19 £69.45 £95.74
May 2015 £121.99 £38.15 £83.84
June 2015 £199.68 £76.16 £123.52
Ayr United Football Academy – CCF 3529 – Final Report 8
July 2015 £139.90 £56.70 £83.20
August 2015 £147.64 £64.08 £83.56
September 2015 £134.09 £46.40 £87.69
October 2015 £167.49 £69.93 £97.56
November 2015 £197.26 £74.54 £122.72
December 2015 £143.77 £59.08 £84.69
Totals £1,741.59 £638.10 £1,103.49
As well as the new drying room being energy efficient it has also been proven to be cost efficient as
we managed to save £1,103.49 over the course of the year, reclaiming 12% of the initial outlay on
the construction.
Drying Room Stats for 2016
The information below is taken from the first 3 months of 2016 and the projections came from the
eLink device (picture below). The usage before is calculated by using the information collected from
the first 3 months of our old system and adding the information from 2015 from April until
December 2015.
Month CO2 Usage before CO2 Usage Now CO2 Savings
January 2016 0.97 CO2 Tonnes 0.19 CO2 Tonnes 0.78 CO2 Tonnes
February 2016 1.28 CO2 Tonnes 0.367 CO2 Tonnes 0.913 CO2 Tonnes
March 2016 1.36 CO2 Tonnes 0.372 CO2 Tonnes 0.988 CO2 Tonnes
Total for 3 months 3.61 CO2 Tonnes 0.93 CO2 Tonnes 2.68 CO2 Tonnes
Projected Total for 2016 13.24 CO2 Tonnes 3.03 CO2 Tonnes 10.21 CO2 Tonnes
Ayr United Football Academy – CCF 3529 – Final Report 9
(Please note the picture above also has information for the first few days in April, and therefore hash the yearly total at 0.998 Tonnes of
CO2. The figure of 0.9 Tonnes of CO2 was taken at the end of March)
Cost Savings for 2016
The savings below are collected using the same methods as used for the energy savings.
Month Cost Before Cost Now Cost Savings
January 2016 £ 147.64 £ 41.90 £ 105.74
February 2016 £ 193.63 £ 79.46 £ 114.17
March 2016 £ 205.73 £ 80.42 £ 161.62
Totals £ 547.01 £ 201.36 £ 381.53
Projected Total for 2016 £1964.02 £ 657.00 £ 1307.02
Ayr United Football Academy – CCF 3529 – Final Report 10
(Cost of the drying room is estimated for the year to be £657.00, as stated in the screen shot above)
Energy Saving Projection - 10 years
The figures below are calculated by taking the average over the two years and multiplying by 8 years
and then adding the two year already calculated.
Year CO2 Usage before CO2 Usage Now CO2 Savings
2015 11.78 CO2 Tonnes 2.95 CO2 Tonnes 8.55 CO2 Tonnes
2016 13.24 CO2 Tonnes 3.03 CO2 Tonnes 10.21 CO2 Tonnes
Average 12.51 CO2 Tonnes 2.99 CO2 Tonnes 9.52 CO2 Tonnes
Projected Figures in
2025
125.1 CO2 Tonnes 29.87 CO2 Tonnes 95.23 CO2 Tonnes
Ayr United Football Academy – CCF 3529 – Final Report 11
Cost Saving Projection - 10 Years
The figures below are calculated by taking the average over the two years and multiplying by 8 years
and then adding the two year already calculated.
Year Cost Before Cost Now Cost Savings
2015 £1,741.59 £ 638.10 £ 1,103.49
2016 £1,964.02 £ 657.00 £ 1,307.02
Average £1,852.80 £ 647. 55 £ 1,205.25
Projected Figures in
2025
£18, 528.05 £6,475.50 £12, 052.55
Summary
It is estimated that in 2025, ten years after the drying room opened, the drying room would have
saved an estimated total of 95.23 tonnes of CO2, with an average saving of 9.39 tonnes each year. In
the original planning of the project it was estimated to an outcome of saving 6.566 tonnes of CO2
each year and a lifetime saving of 65.66 tonnes of CO2. Therefore the drying room is actually
predicted to save an extra 2.77 tonnes of CO2 every year and a total of 29.67 tonnes CO2 extra over
the next ten years.
Finally it is also worth mentioning that the drying room will make a total saving of £12,052.55 over
the ten years resulting in the room having paid for itself after seven and a half years.
Kit Recycling
Our overall goal was to divert a total of 1000kg of football kit away from landfill, saving a total of
22.310 Tonnes of CO2, with 111.55 Tonnes of CO2 saved over 5 Years.
Over the course of the project we held a number of events in order to collect unwanted kit from the
local community and to get the kit we collected recycled back into the community. We also used our
presence within the local schools and some of our other projects to collect and recycle kit. The
biggest donations of kit came through events held with our players and therefore or players became
the biggest contributors to the kit recycling. We found the younger age groups would go through
football boots more often due to maturation, and the older teams went through more pairs of
footballs simply down to the rate in which new football boots are released. This lead to good quality
football boots being donated, some which were hardly worn and pretty expensive at retail.
In total we managed to divert a total of 1225.2kg worth of football kit away from landfill which
converts to 27.23 CO2 Tonnes and a total of 784.3kg kit recycled back into the local community.
Ayr United Football Academy – CCF 3529 – Final Report 12
Month Weight of Kit
Collected
C02 Tonnes
Saved
Total Weight of
Kit Collected
Collective Tonnes
Saved
October 14 34.5 kg 0.77 CO2 Tonnes 34.5kg 0.77 CO2 Tonnes
December 14 51.9kg 1.16 CO2 Tonnes 86.4kg 1.93 CO2 Tonnes
February 15 99.2kg 2.21 CO2 Tonnes 185.6kg 4.14 CO2 Tonnes
April 15 107kg 2.39 CO2 Tonnes 292.6kg 6.53 CO2 Tonnes
June 15 245.1kg 5.47 CO2 Tonnes 537.7kg 12.00 CO2 Tonnes
September 15 85.3kg 1.9 0CO2 Tonnes 623kg 13.90 CO2 Tonnes
December 15 128.9kg 2.88 CO2 Tonnes 751.9kg 16.77 CO2 Tonnes
February 16 379.2kg 8.46 CO2 Tonnes 1031.1kg 25.23 CO2 Tonnes
March 16 94.1kg 2.10 CO2 Tonnes 1225.2kg 27.23 CO2 Tonnes
(Conversion factor **kg x 22.310/1000)
Events
Most of the events which we held were in connection with the collection and re-distribution of
football kit. The first event we held was in October 2014 in which we linked into our Holiday Camp
programme with the collection of unwanted football kit. Participants could exchange kit for a place
on our holiday camp during the October school holidays. In December of 2014 we held a Christmas
kit-back tournament for some of the younger sections of our teams. In order for players to enter the
tournament they would have to donate unwanted kit to compete in the tournament. In May 2015
we had a big kit collection from our boys and girls players, through our Player of the Year Dinner.
Players and kids were granted free entry to the event if they donated kit which could be recycled.
This went down really well with a total of 143.7kg was collected just from this event. In August 2015,
we linked with Ayr United Football Club to host a kit give away stall at the Clubs open day. The stall
was the busiest during the day with almost all the football boots we had at the time being re-homed.
(Picture below) A total of 236kg of boots and kit was distributed back into the local community at
this event.
Ayr United Football Academy – CCF 3529 – Final Report 13
Primary School Delivery
Appointment of Sessional Staff
In September 2014, Darren Baird, Michael Donald and Stewart Bell were all appointed sessional staff
to deliver the primary school project. In total, 24 applications were made over a 3 week period
between 24th September and 10th October with a total of 8 applicants interviewed. Michael Donald
and Stewart Bell had the most experience and qualifications which were relevant to the posts, with
having vast experience of delivering football sessions within primary schools as well as delivering
educational based content during these sessions. Darren interviewed very well and as part of the
process candidates were asked to deliver a 15 minute coaching sessions, and Darren’s session was
most impressive.
In January of 2015 Darren left his role as a sessional staff member to take on a role with the Fire
Service. Bobby Hay was appointed a sessional staff member, after an application process which saw
4 applicants apply. Bobby was appointed due to his previous work and volunteering amongst other
projects at Ayr United Finally, heading into the second year of the project, Stewart Bell also left the
project and headed into full time employment, Connor George was appointed to fill the vacancy.
Creation of Log book
Stuart Watson, the Education Manager created the logbook which would be used in the primary
schools. The idea of the primary school sessions was, one half would be educational with the pupils
going through sections of the log book on a weekly basis and the other half football delivery.
In Week one there would be a brief introduction to Climate Change by asking what is Climate
Change. In week two the children’s current behaviour towards, energy, food, travel and recycling
was collected. Over the next 4 weeks each of the topics were explored in further detail, with week
seven being a recap of the 4 topics and talking about solutions. The final week was recollecting the
same information as week two in order to evaluate whether or not there was any change in the
children’s behaviour.
WEEK NUMBER CLIMATE CHALLENGE THEME FOOTBALL THEME
Week 1 What is Climate Change? Dribbling
Week 2 Your current behaviour Games
Week 3 Energy Passing
Week 4 Food Games
Week 5 Travel Control
Week 6 Recycling Games
Week 7 Solutions Shooting
Week 8 Summary Games
Ayr United Football Academy – CCF 3529 – Final Report 14
Organisation with Primary Schools
AUFA had previous experience in delivering educational programmes within the primary schools
across South Ayrshire. Therefore, we used the same format as before as arranged visits in co-
ordination with the schools four main term time blocks:
1. August to October
2. October to December
3. January to March
4. April to June
Results
Please see the results collected below from the logbooks, unfortunately there was a high number of
logbooks collected which weren’t fully competed and therefore not used in the stats below.
Number of logbooks 3276 Number not fully completed 692 Number used for stats 2584
Behaviour Change Statistics
Positive change in behaviour re Energy
use Food miles Travel/Transport Recycling
No. of pupils 1967 836 1434 1744
% of pupils 76% 32% 55% 67%
Knowledge of Climate Change topics
Increased awareness of Energy
use Food miles Travel/Transport Recycling
No. of pupils 2295 1425 1761 1684
% of pupils 89% 55% 68% 65%
Question - Do you think you have, or will, reduce your impact on the environment? No. of pupils responding Yes 2185
% of pupils responding Yes 85%
Dates No. of Schools No. of Kids No. of logbooks
October to December 2014 8 392 385
January to March 2015 11 552 547
April to June 2015 10 630 622
1
August to October 2015 15 594 585
October to December 2015 15 525 513
January to March 2016 12 660 624
Ayr United Football Academy – CCF 3529 – Final Report 15
Travel Awareness
Our original application had estimated our teams travel would total to around 800 round trips per
week driven by our player’s parents to training and matches. An average journey distance was taken
of 20 miles. Over a full season this would total around 736000 miles and based on our application
formula this would give a total emissions per annum of 2767 tonnes of CO2. We gave ourselves a
target of reducing emissions by 10% which would be an estimated CO2 saving of 277 tonnes.
Over the course of a season a more detailed analysis was carried out by our Education Officer and
stats highlighted there was closer to 1300 potential round trips per training and playing week
Through the use of our minibuses and the encouragement of car sharing we believe we have cut the
amount of journeys by an average of 350 per week. Over the season this results this is a reduction of
161000 miles travelled and an estimated annual CO2 saving of just over 605 tonnes of CO2. This
figure over the lifetime saving of 5 years would give us an estimate lifetime savings of 3027.1 tonnes
of CO2.
Please see below three case studies
Case Study 1 – Irvine to Ayr – 2005 Age Group
Colin, Ethan and Lewis (pictured below) all started training with Ayr United Football Academy under
10s in January 2015, before signing with the club in June of that year. During this period car sharing
was discussed with the whole under 10s group. Colin, Ethan and Lewis all stay close to each other in
Irvine and it was agreed with the parents, the boys would travel to training together.
Between January 2015 and June 2015, the boys were training three evenings in Ayr at Belmont
Academy. This journey is a 29.2 mile round trip. This would mean a total of 262.8miles each week
would be driven if each player travelled individually. Over the 20 week period between January and
June, this would be a massive 5256 miles. However, as the three players were travelling together the
total mileage per week was only 87.6 miles and 1,752 miles over the 20 weeks. Therefore a total of
3504 miles driven had been saved, and based on the conversion factor of (unknown fuel) 0.37604 a
total of 13.18 tonnes of CO2 saved.
In July 2015, the three players signed for Ayr United and progressed from Under 10s into the Elite
Games Programme at Under 11s. This meant the players would undertake 38 weeks of travel
between Irvine and Ayr (from July until end of project in March) however, as the car sharing
between the three players was already in place, this resulted in a saving of 6657.6 miles driven and a
total of 25.03 tonnes of CO2 saved.
Ayr United Football Academy – CCF 3529 – Final Report 16
Projecting these stats forward over the next 3 and a half years, based on the 46 weeks of the season,
it results in an estimated CO2 saving of 106.06 tonnes, add this with the previous savings the total
for these three players over 5 years is a C02 saving of 144.27 tonnes.
Case Study 2 – Cumnock to Ayr – 2004/5 Age Group
Three players residing in Cumnock, East Ayrshire, travelled 3 evenings each week to Belmont
Academy in Ayr for Under 11s and Under 12s training. Connor, Ross and Dylan (all pictured below)
Before implementing car sharing, each of the players were traveling a total of 91.2 miles each week.
The journey from Cumnock to Belmont Academy and back is 30.4 miles. The under 11s and the
under 12s both train at the same times and same venue, which allowed the 3 players to all share
journeys to training each week. Over the period of the project this resulted in an estimated saving of
10579.2 miles driven and a total CO2 saving of 39.78 tonnes. This figure projected over the next
three and a half years, including CO2 already saved, brings a total of 150.20 CO2 tonnes saved.
Case Study 3 – Ardrossan to Ayr – 2006 Age Group
Ardrossan to Belmont Academy in Ayr is a round trip of 48.2 miles. Daniel, Ethan S and Ethan O all
joined the Academy in August of 2014, in our under 9s section. In January 2015 we organised a car
share with the 3 players. Over the next 58 weeks this car share saved a total of 16773.6 miles and a
CO2 saving of 63.07 tonnes. This projected over the 5 year period equates to 238.14 tonnes of CO2
saved.
Ayr United Football Academy – CCF 3529 – Final Report 17
Outcome Results
Reduced C02e through the introduction of a more efficient kit drying system. (65.66t CO2e)
o Based over 10 years with an estimated saving of 6.566 tonnes of CO2e each year.
Outcome met and exceeded
Reduced C02e of travel related behaviour connected to football community (1385 t CO2e)
o Based over 5 years with an estimated saving of 277 tonnes of CO2e each year
Outcome met
Reduced C02e in the local football community through reusing useful kit and equipment
thereby diverting from landfill (111.55 t C02e)
o Based over 5 years with an estimated saving of 111.55 CO2e each year
Outcome partially met
Increased awareness of reduce/reuse/recycle in local sporting community
Outcome met
Increased awareness of climate change
Outcome met
Reduced costs of participation in sport
Partially delivered (See reflection and learning)
Ayr United Football Academy – CCF 3529 – Final Report 18
Output Grid
Output Grid – Please fill in only those outputs which relate to your project. More
information about all of these outputs can be provided in other sections of the
report – these figures will enable us to collate some overall impacts of the CCF.
How many advice/information centres – regular drop-in centre, advice surgery
etc. - is your project running?
N\A
How many training sessions where skills and/or information were passed on
– e.g. composting training, cooking workshops, etc. – has your project has held.
N\A
How many events did your project hold, e.g. information fairs, open days, etc.? Do
not include events held by other organisations which you have attended.
7
How many staff, volunteers or community members have achieved qualifications
through the project – e.g. City & Guilds Energy Awareness, Trail Cycle Leader, etc.
N\A
How many people were directly employed by your project. Tell us the full-time
equivalent (FTE) number of employees (e.g. 3 days per week = 0.6 FTE).
2FTE
1PTE
Is the project is supporting the development of any long-term jobs which are not
dependent of CCF Funding? How many?
O
How many people are actively involved in your project – attending groups &
workshops, using the project facilities etc.?
4000
How many people volunteer their time and energy to keeping the project going –
don’t forget the members of your management committee or board.
12
How many schools are involved in your project? 42
How many community-owned buildings have been refurbished? 1
How many Home Energy Checks or similar energy efficiency reports have
been carried out by your project?
N\A
How many households have been referred on to other agencies or providers
(e.g. HES, Green Deal assessor) for further action?
N\A
How many households installed energy efficiency measures – loft, wall or floor N\A
Ayr United Football Academy – CCF 3529 – Final Report 19
insulation, draft-proofing, double glazing etc. – as a result of your project?
How many households installed green energy generation measures –
photovoltaic panels, solar thermal panels, air or ground source heat pumps, wood
fuelled heating systems etc – as a result of your project?
N\A
How many miles of car journeys have been reduced through the activities of
your project?
161000
How many square metres (m2) of community growing space (allotments, poly-
tunnels, raised beds, community gardens) has your project brought into use?
N\A
How many tonnes of waste have been diverted from landfill because of the
activities of your project?
27.23
Ayr United Football Academy – CCF 3529 – Final Report 20
Learning & Reflection
When reflecting back to the start of our project we didn’t start our project until the middle of
September, as we didn’t have the Project Manager, Education Officer and Kit and Boot Officer
Positions filled until the 10th September 2014, this also had a knock on effect with the recruitment of
the sessional staff. If we were starting the project again, we would have the Project Manager,
Education Officer and Kit and Boot Officer all starting on day one of the project. This would have
allowed the sessional staff to be employed earlier and potentially attending schools earlier, covering
more children and collecting more stats.
Over the course of the project we found the main contributors to our kit recycling were people
whom were already involved with AUFA. Indeed one of the main contributors to the project were
our players from our boys and the girls sections. Taking into consideration there is a further 5000
people attending sports centres across South Ayrshire each month and countless more boys and girls
sports clubs across South Ayrshire, we felt we would be reaching more people and recycling more
kit. In February 2015, we applied to the Climate Challenge Fund to expand our Kit Recycling project
to the whole of South Ayrshire and to all sports. This application was successful and the project ‘Eco
Interactive Player Challenge’ (EPIC) will see the implementation of 6 additional kit recycling drop
points as well as a new strategy to engage more people.
One of the main barriers of the project was engaging with parents about travel awareness. Other
than from organising car sharing opportunities the parents didn’t engage in events which were
proposed.
The project didn’t delivery as many events as we originally planned, we went down the route of
bigger events in the hope to engage more people and collect bigger volumes of kit. On reflection
smaller events, across more of the local authority, would have increased the people we engaged
with and potentially collected and recycled more football kit. In preparation for our ‘EPIC’ project we
will be planning a number of smaller events with local communities and in areas where recycled
sports kit is most needed.
One of the community outcomes we found hard to collect information for was ‘Reduced costs of
participation to sport’. While we felt we did reduce the costs of participating in football, through the
distribution of kit and mainly football boots, hard stats were difficult to collect through the
sensitivity of the issue its self. In the planning stage, the idea behind the outcome was to collect full
sets of strips in order to assist teams with strips and therefore taking away a big outlay from local
team. However over the course of the project we never got received donations of full sets of strips
and therefore were unable to meet this target.
The main areas which we felt we could have done better was the promotion and marketing of work
which was carried out. Reflecting on the project there was a number of times where we didn’t
capture enough footage of the event on camera or promote work we had completed, on social
media. AUFA have recently entered into a partnership with University of the West of Scotland in
order to give their media student’s opportunities to gain work experience with the academy and to
increase the media coverage of our projects. In our new project ‘EPIC’ one of the internal targets will
be ensure the project is covered comprehensively on our social media platforms and local media
outlets. One of the biggest areas of our project was working within the primary schools and a barrier
to acquiring photos from these session, was receiving permission from the parents and the school.
Ayr United Football Academy – CCF 3529 – Final Report 21
Looking ahead to our new Climate Challenge project ‘EPIC’, when again we will be visiting schools
and also nurseries, we will be adopting a new approach to securing photographic permission by
sending the letters prior to the school visits.
Finance & Administration
The original budget was £126,821.12 in total over the 19 months of the project and the table below
shows how the money was spent and how the final budget headings ended up after some re-
profiling. The funding was spilt into two years, with £50, 580.64 awarded in the first year and £76,
191.16 awarded in the second year. A total of £262.33 was returned to the fund.
Overall Budget
Budget Headings Original Final
Unit Refurbishment £7,479.00 £8,974.80
Project Co-Ordinator £37,901.96 £36,876.88
Kit and Boot Officer £13,395.76 £12,361.58
Sessional workers £20,439.90 £22,216.00
Laundry Consumables £1,710.00 £540.00
Office Consumables £1,900.00 £2,934.00
Marketing £3,900.00 £5,388.00
Event Hire £5,600.00 £4,039.00
Education Officer £30,694.50 £29,886.93
Administrative Overheads £3,800.00 £3,341.60
Totals £126,821.12 £126,558.79
Ayr United Football Academy – CCF 3529 – Final Report 22
Name of report authors and date it was finalised
Gregor Kyle
Thursday 28th April 2016