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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

Mark Williams Watch on SPTV

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 call trusted adults we call good adults. A key theme is having the right people in the right place doing the right thing with the right kids.We see the benefits. The easier ones are improved physical and mental wellbeing, in which we see huge differences. We use a tool called the SHANARRI—safe, healthy, achieving, nurtured, active, respected, responsible and included—wheel. Not everyone is familiar with it, but I am sure that committee members probably are. It measures mental wellbeing in young people. I will try to break down how it does that.Imagine a pizza cut up into slices, with each slice a letter on the SHANARRI wheel: “S”, “H”, “A” and so on. We ask our young people to complete three wheels: one for how they feel at school; one for how they feel at home; and one for how they feel on our programmes. On average, our programmes finish above both school and home, in particular with regard to how safe the young people feel. They even feel that they achieved more at our programmes than they did at school. They feel respected and included, which are massive drivers. I mentioned the numbers that show how much antisocial behaviour has reduced. That is fantastic, and it is great for the community, but our programmes make young people mentally and physically stronger. That is the effect that they have.The provision of safe and trusted environments is key. Every young person should feel safe in their environment, whether at home, in school or in the community. That is an area in which we do a lot of work. We have introduced Cruyff courts. They belong to the community—they are not ours or the council’s. The provision of such facilities makes a big difference. We have three in the city at the moment. They enable young people of all different ages and all different stages to achieve different outcomes.We are working with Robert Gordon University, which has provided a research fellow for three years to measure the impact of a free-to-access sport facility in a disadvantaged community. The outcomes are already proving what we say in the reports and the evidence.Our work helps to strengthen relationships at home. If the kids achieve and are able to move on to more positive destinations, that leads to a happier home life. There is less stress, less pressure, less push and fewer arguments, and there is more rounded family cohesion.Our work helps to divert young people from antisocial behaviour. As I touched on earlier, we know that, when we operate, there is less antisocial behaviour in the community.There is also the issue of pathways and aspirations. “What next?” and “Where do we go from here?” are key questions for young people. They can start to think about what they want and how we can help. That is what our programmes do for families and young people.

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Education, Children and Young People Committee 18 March 2026 [Draft]

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