STREET soccer has transformed the lives of thousands of men and women. In a series of articles RUSSELL LEADBETTER examines the work of Street Soccer Scotland and the Homeless World Cup, which takes place in Amsterdam next month.

Today he profiles David Duke, the man behind the phenomenon.

IN a speech the other week at an entrepreneurial event, David Duke summed up his philosophy in just nine words.

“Give people hope,” he said, “and you’ll give them a future.”

The founder and chief executive of Street Soccer (Scotland), David has given hope to scores of disadvantaged people through football.

In the space of six years the organisation has reached out to some 10,000 people. The vast majority of them have reported higher levels of self-esteem as a result; nearly half of them say it inspired them to reduce their substance misuse.

Street Soccer gives them access to physical exercise; it all inspires them to improve their lives.

Providing opportunity, building hope. That’s it in a nutshell.

“We’re six years on now and it has grown really fast,” says David in an interview in a noisy, busy Friday afternoon in an Edinburgh hotel bar.

“We’re now operating all over Scotland. Between providing for youths and adults, we’ve got about 40 weekly programmes. We’ve got 16 staff, most of them volunteers.

“We’ve got a lot of good partnerships going, too,” he adds. Sir Alex Ferguson, like David a Govan boy, is an ambassador. RBS and the STV Appeal are just two of the partners and supporters.

In addition to all of this, the organisation is a partner of the Homeless World Cup and every year it chooses - and coaches - the national homeless World Cup team.

How’s it doing in that respect? Well, it has won the World Cup not once but twice - in Copenhagen in 2007 and Paris four years later. It’s aiming for a hat-trick in Amsterdam in September.

David’s own story is well-known. There was a time, just over a decade ago, when, mourning the death of his father and trying to cope with a drink problem of his own, he was briefly homeless and ended up registering at Glasgow’s Hamish Allan Centre and was put into supported accommodation.

It was the glimpse of an advert for the Homeless World Cup, in Sweden, in 2004, that set David on his way. He had been a talented footballer when younger, and he rediscovered that talent in Gothenburg.

He gained his SFA coaching badges and got the first in a long line of postings.

In 2007 he led the Scottish homeless team to the World Cup in Denmark and had the unfettered joy of seeing the side triumph (the final, against Poland, was “the best day of my life.”)

Now 35, his life has been a blur since then - of meetings, of speeches at countless events, of high-level contacts. He’s constantly on the go, constantly dreaming up new projects.

In March 2009 he took the decisive step of setting up Street Soccer (Scotland), so that other people from disadvantaged backgrounds could, like him, experience the transformative power of football.

“It was all based on my own experience. I learned a lot of life-skills in a couple of years which I didn’t have before, being homeless.

“It taught me that, by giving somebody an opportunity, things can change. Just because you’re in a certain situation just now, doesn’t mean you’re always going to be there.

“Through someone giving you an opportunity, and believing in you, you can turn your situation around.

“All I wanted to do was to give people opportunities, to give them the chance to play football and do something positive, to bring them into a place where there’s a lot of love and a lot of respect and encouragement, and help them to believe in themselves.”

The success stories he has witnessed over the last few years have been gratifying, and have borne out the truth of his philosophy.

“It’s been challenging, it’s been tough,” David says now. “I’ve dedicated six solid years to the project. The staff all work 110 per cent to try to make things happen.”

But he’s a realist. “On the one hand, I’m pleased with how well it has done, but on the other, I know it can be done a lot better," he says.

“So we’ve had a lot of growth, and have gone in certain directions, but what we are focusing on now is 2020. What will Street Soccer look like then? Who are we as an organisation?

“When you start up a social organisation it’s like a whirlwind - it doesn’t stop, you’re always chasing the next opportunity.

“But now we’re trying to slow down and re-evaluate who we are. I want it to ave a strong set of values that dictate how it works and who it employs.

“I want the organisation to be driven by good, solid values: trust, people, respect, realising that everyone, black and white, is different. That is how we’re going to take the organisation forward.

“Like any organisation, cash is tight. Local authority budgets have been slashed and there have been cuts left, right and centre.

“What we’re trying to do,” he adds, “is to create a sustainable model where we don’t rely on council money and are almost in control of our own destiny.”

Some of Street Soccer’s clients have not had it easy. Some may be fresh out of prison; others may have addiction issues, or be homeless. But all are welcome. There is no age limit, either. David believes you’re never too old to turn your life around.

“I know someone who was in the criminal justice system for 20 over years, and never worked a day in his life,” he says.

“He’s now a civil servant, working in the public sector. He’s putting something back into society.

“The only change that happened there was someone saying to him, ‘Do you know something? All of that stuff is in the past. But you can use that to help other people who are going down that road’.”

** Website: www.streetsoccerscotland.org