Committee
Education, Children and Young People Committee 18 March 2026 [Draft]
18 Mar 2026 · S6 · Education, Children and Young People Committee
Item of business
Community Sporting Initiatives for Children and Young People
Debbi McCulloch
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Last year, we asked young people who access our youth work programmes whether they felt that they had a trusted adult at Spartans, and 94 per cent of them said yes. Having that trusted adult is really important. Having people there who are not part of mainstream education, for example, allows better relationships to be nurtured and developed. For us, it has always been about those relationships.A lot of our systems and processes for young people and families are very transactional, so it is about how you build a relationship around trust that can then support those young people or the families to be able to enhance their chances of having a better life.It is also about increased employment opportunities for people in the local community—
In the same item of business
The Convener (Douglas Ross)
Con
Good morning, and welcome to the 11th meeting of the Education, Children and Young People Committee in 2026. This morning, we will be taking evidence on comm...
Mark Williams (Denis Law Legacy Trust)
Thank you for inviting me to the committee. I am from the Denis Law Legacy Trust, which is a small children’s charity that is based in Aberdeen. We specialis...
The Convener
Con
That is excellent. That is the type of information that we want, so we are grateful for that evidence. Ms McCulloch, we come to you.
Debbi McCulloch (Spartans Community Foundation)
Thank you for inviting me along this morning. I have worked at the Spartans Community Foundation since 2009. We opened our doors in north Edinburgh in Decemb...
The Convener
Con
Please do not apologise. It is very inspiring to hear what you both are speaking about. My next question is on what you are doing in your localities. What is...
Mark Williams
It obviously very different for us because we are not part of the SFA or have a football club connection. Obviously Denis Law has a huge connection there but...
Debbi McCulloch
Numerous clubs across Scotland are doing fantastic work through their foundations in similar areas as us—Falkirk, Hibs, Hearts, Morton, to name a few.First, ...
The Convener
Con
That gives us a good start and takes us in the direction that a lot of fellow committee members’ questions will follow.
Jackie Dunbar (Aberdeen Donside) (SNP)
SNP
Good morning. Thank you very much for taking the time to come along. As the Aberdeen Donside MSP, I absolutely know the benefits that the Denis Law Legacy Tr...
Debbi McCulloch
Last year, we asked young people who access our youth work programmes whether they felt that they had a trusted adult at Spartans, and 94 per cent of them sa...
Jackie Dunbar
SNP
Do you mean in Spartans or outwith it?
Debbi McCulloch
With regard to the employment opportunities?
Jackie Dunbar
SNP
Yes.
Debbi McCulloch
Definitely in Spartans. We have employment and volunteering opportunities, and young people who have started with us at nine years old are now near enough 25...
Jackie Dunbar
SNP
I put the same question to Mark.
Mark Williams
Ours is a different model, but it has similar outcomes. Sport and creative activity are our main hook—they are the gateway to engagement. What some people ca...
Jackie Dunbar
SNP
Your volunteers are absolutely key to everything that you do. How many of your volunteers attended your sessions as bairns and have come back?
Mark Williams
I love that question. Volunteers are the spine of our organisation, as they are with most voluntary organisations. They are massively important. We spent a l...
Jackie Dunbar
SNP
I will be honest—I did not expect the figure to be 60 per cent. That is a large number. I often see on your Facebook page pictures of certificates being hand...
Mark Williams
I think that, last year, it was just under 5,000, which is a huge number. We do employ a volunteer officer, because, when it comes to volunteers, what we cal...
Jackie Dunbar
SNP
Okay, thank you. Debbi, do you want to comment?
Debbi McCulloch
Last year, our organisation was awarded the King’s award for voluntary services. The majority of our volunteers are involved in the football club side of thi...
Jackie Dunbar
SNP
I believe in bigging up successes. That is why I was asking.
Debbi McCulloch
More than 150 girls and 400 boys play at the club on a regular basis. Those teams would not go ahead, and that level of physical activity, social engagement ...
Willie Rennie (North East Fife) (LD)
LD
I visited the Community Trade Hub in Leven recently. Debbi, you were talking about the way that you treat young people and the relationship that you have wit...
Debbi McCulloch
The alternative school model is for children who will not really be attending school outwith that. They have the opportunity to come to Spartans for two and ...
Willie Rennie
LD
The second point was about funding. The Community Trade Hub seems to be able to scrape together different pockets of money, mostly pupil equity funding, but ...
Debbi McCulloch
Yes: it will be PEF, as well as strategic equity funding—SEF. It is very much up to the schools how they distribute that.Our senior alternative school costs ...
Mark Williams
Your first question was about increased attendance. We wanted that to happen, which was why we introduced Denis Law’s academy. We wanted young people to feel...
Willie Rennie
LD
Do you both feel that your operations are properly evaluated by the local authorities and that that is accepted by their leadership as being properly validat...