Memorandum of Understanding between

SPORTS CHAPLAINCY & Scottish Association for Mental Health (SAMH)

Status of Memorandum of Understanding

The status of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between SPORTS CHAPLAINCY and SAMH is to
support a working partnership, and the parties understand and agree that whilst they are entering into the
arrangement in good faith, the terms of this memorandum do not create any binding contractual rights or
obligations.

1. Start date and duration

The formal working partnership will be effective from May 2014.

2. Partnership

SAMH and SPORTS CHAPLAINCY have identified areas of work where interests may best be served through the
development of a strategic partnership. Currently these common areas of interest focus on:

2.1 Both organisations are committed to the values of Equality, Dignity, Respect, Hope, Choice and
Personal Achievement.

2.2 The partnership between SAMH and SPORTS CHAPLAINCY is developmental and both organisations
undertake to identify, share and discuss those areas of their respective work which they believe can be
given added value and impact by the involvement of the other.

2.3 The purpose of this strategic partnership is to harness the skills and experience of SAMH and SPORTS
CHAPLAINCY in a proactive and constructive working relationship to maximise their impact on the
mental health and wellbeing of people and to develop each organisation’s business. This relationship
will underpin all work undertaken within this partnership and to ensure the values listed in 2.1 are
adhered to.

2.4 Both organisations retain individual control of all their intellectual property, identity and resources
and will only commit additionally to this partnership through discussion and agreement with the other
partner. With regard to the outputs of the partnership ownership of all shared resources will be
discussed and agreed in advance to ensure clarity and mutuality.

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The Partners

SAMH

SAMH is Scotland’s mental health charity and is dedicated to mental health and wellbeing for all. SAMH
provides an independent voice on all matters of relevance to people with mental health and related problems
(including homelessness and addictions). The organisation provides advice and guidance to a wide range of
national bodies and delivers direct support to around 2,500 people through 70 services across Scotland. SAMH
is committed to challenging the stigma and discrimination experienced by people who live with mental health
problems and is the lead partner in the delivery of Scotland’s National Anti- stigma Programme and
‘respectme’ (Scotland’s anti-bullying service)

SPORTS CHAPLAINCY

Sports Chaplaincy trains, appoints and oversees chaplains throughout Scottish football. We currently have 39
chaplains serving in Professional Scottish Football, providing over 23,000 hours of support each year to more
than 2,000 individuals within the industry at no cost. In five years it is our intention to increase the current
offering to 200 volunteer chaplains covering professional, women’s, non-league and community football, this
will provide 100,000 man hours of service to Scottish football p.a.

Chaplains tend to be more trusted because we also have an independence from sport and consequently our
focus is on people and not performance. It means that we are able to support sports individuals in areas of
difficulty which can often remain hidden, these issues typically though not exclusively are Relationships,
Mental well-being, Gambling addiction, Drug addiction, Sex addiction, Bereavement, Sporting grief and Post
career.
A sports chaplain provides spiritual and pastoral care, by permission, for the holistic well-being of all those
involved in sport. The sports chaplain interacts with the fans, staff, coaches and players. Sports chaplains are
involved at all levels and this generally involves visiting the club offices and training facilities on a weekly basis
and being available to listen and bring support to all staff alike.

3. Communication

3.1 The memorandum of understanding will operate at a strategic level through on-going
communication between senior staff within both organisations.

3.2 Meetings will be held between the partners as required to develop the partnership and will
involve other staff from the two organisations as appropriate.

3.3 All external communications regarding the partnership and its work areas will be managed
jointly. Roles and responsibilities will be discussed and agreed regarding these issues in
advance.

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4. Financial sustainability

There will be no requirement for an annual fee to support this arrangement. Invoices may be issued
in by either organisation for instance in relation to the provision of training or publication distribution.
Associated costs would be with prior agreement between the parties.

5. Areas of work

Currently these common areas of interest focus on, but are not exclusive to:

o Equality & diversity – partnership with SAMH would support Sports Chaplaincy mainstreaming
approach as it would provide strategic and operational input into how Sports Chaplaincy eliminates
discrimination, promotes equality of opportunity and fosters good relations to mental health and well-
being.

o Learning & Education – SAMH will provide training opportunities for Sports Chaplaincy staff such as
suicide prevention; anti-bullying; mental health awareness as part of the internal staff delivery.

o Sports Chaplaincy and SAMH will provide support and expertise to each other in the delivery of events
and activities where opportunities arise.

o The SAMH fundraising and business development team and will work with Sports Chaplaincy to
identity appropriate fundraising opportunities on activities which will further the aims of both
organisations

o Reciprocal web links will be created to further publicise both the partnership, the areas of joint work
and the wider work of both organisations.

o Sports Chaplaincy and SAMH will liaise on the planning of events and opportunities to work together

o SAMH will work with Sports Chaplaincy where appropriate and where eligibility criteria are satisfied
to deliver employability outcomes for people engaged in Sports Chaplaincy football programmes

6. Review of working partnership

SPORTS CHAPLAINCY and SAMH will regularly review the working partnership, most likely on an
annual basis, and commit to take action to maintain and/or enhance the relationship as appropriate.

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7. Practical Arrangements

Each organisation will be responsible for the management and supervision of its staff and all decisions
relating to the commitment of any other resources in relation to the development of the partnership.

Each organisation will provide reasonable support in this partnership in areas of people, finance and
information technology. Where the use of each organisation’s intellectual property, intellectual assets
and corporate branding maybe required by agreement, they may only be used for the purposes of the
partnership and all commercial rights pertaining to these items remain the sole property of each
organisation.

Any publications/resources produced through the partnership will be jointly branded.

Any decisions, including campaigns relating to this partnership and its future strategic direction must
be discussed and agreed between the Partners. Should either of the Partners proceed without
involving the other then the memorandum of understanding will be considered to have been
breached and the other Partner will be absolved from any and all costs arising as a result of the
breach.

8. Problem Solving

The partnership has been founded in the spirit of co-operation and respect and any issues arising from
the development and on-going delivery of the service will be resolved in line with the value base
outlined in 2.1. Early discussion will be sought between the partners and issues and solutions noted in
the record of the partnership meetings.
9. Each partner retains the right to withdraw from or dissolve the partnership for any reason. As much
notice as possible will be required for the withdrawal/dissolution of the partnership with three
months being the minimum acceptable from either party. On withdrawal from/dissolution of the
partnership agreement must be reached about the ownership and use of any jointly developed
publications/resources.

We hereby agree –

Signature (SPORTS CHAPLAINCY)

….……………………………………………...................................................................

Name:…………………………………...Position:……………………………………………….Date:……….

Signature (SAMH)

………………………………………………………….................................................

Name:…………………………………...Position:……………………………………………….Date:……….