WEST LOTHIAN YOUTH FOUNDATION & LIVINGSTON FC PART OF BIGGEST SINGLE SCOTTISH FOOTBALL COMMUNITY PROGRAMME IN HISTORY SEES SPFL TRUST ENGAGE MORE THAN 30,000 PEOPLE VIA LEGACY 2014

Key headlines:

• SPFL Trust launches Legacy 2014 report and reveals 30,596 people engaged across Scotland as part of £500,000 funding provided by the Scottish Government via the Scottish League Cup
• Biggest ever single community programme engagement in Scottish football history
• 40 clubs participated – including all Ladbrokes Premiership teams
• Delivery cost of just £16.34 per person demonstrates value for money and exceptional reach of football in Scotland
• West Lothian Youth Foundation & Livingston FC project involved delivery of their Reminiscence programme.

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The Scottish Professional Football League Trust (SPFL Trust) has revealed that 30,596 people across Scotland have been engaged through a Legacy 2014 and Scottish League Cup funding programme with the Scottish Government.

West Lothian Youth Foundation and Livingston FC are proud to have been a part of this record-breaking project, delivering the Reminiscence Programme.

As a result of the funding, West Lothian Youth Foundation & Livingston FC were able to engaged with 157 older people living with dementia and Alzheimer’s. The project also brought senior school pupils to the programme to act as a buddy system for the participants.

In total, 40 clubs – including all Ladbrokes Premiership clubs – participated in delivering life-changing activity relevant to the needs of the community in which they are based.

The engagement total marks out the biggest single-impact community campaign that Scottish football has ever seen.

A detailed report, including analysis of every participating club, was launched the National Stadium, Hampden Park by former Celtic and Aberdeen star Joe Miller ahead of his former side’s facing each other in this weekend’s Betfred Cup Final (Sunday 27 November, 3pm).

Each club, or its community trust, was invited to apply for a £11,000 grant to deliver a programme of activity which engaged people, often in traditionally hard to reach places.

Activity covered one of 18 different areas of need, and all met key requirements according to the Scottish Government’s strategic objectives.

Over one third of clubs in Scotland are based in areas with the lowest scores on the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation (SIMD). With a cost of £16.34 per engagement, the SPFL Trust is convinced of the exceptional return on investment, both financially, and also in terms of widening accessibility.

Some of the key statistics from across the programme include:

• 3,000 young people in rural communities supported
• 260 young people in NEET group in Life Skills Programmes
• 520 accredited qualifications achieved
• 36 employment opportunities initiated
• 36 prisoners engaged in life skills programmes at HMP Dumfries & HMP Barlinnie
• 185 volunteer opportunities crated
• 88 people with disabilities taking part in sport
• People aged two to 90 reached
• 250 schools involved
• 73 elderly & socially isolated people engaged weekly

The report includes a review of every participating club’s programme, assessing achievements, outcomes as well as gathered feedback.

Nicky Reid, General Manager at the SPFL Trust comments:

“The impact as demonstrated in this Legacy 2014 report has been incredible and we are so very proud of the part that West Lothian Youth Foundation and Livingston FC have played in its undoubted success. Scottish football has once again shown its remarkable capacity to engage hard to reach groups, by using the power of each club’s reach within the communities in which they are supported. The Legacy 2014 programme is the single-biggest programme of community engagement Scottish football has ever seen. It demonstrates the value that the SPFL Trust and our clubs working together can deliver to the country.”

Aileen Campbell MSP, Minister for Sport adds:

“This programme demonstrates the on-going legacy of the 2014 Commonwealth Games and the power of football – and sport in general – to reach out to people and change lives. Football can be a powerful force for good, and this report underlines that.

“I’m delighted that more than 500 people have earned professional qualifications and dozens of people with disabilities are now enjoying sport and all the benefits that can bring. If people are able to get into employment, or become more active, their health and standard of living can improve immeasurably. Perhaps best of all, much of this work was carried out in some of Scotland’s more deprived communities, helping to reduce inequalities.” 

Read the full SPFL Trust Legacy 2014 report, here.

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