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, our organisation was awarded the King’s award for voluntary services. The majority of our volunteers are involved in the football club side of things, and mainly the youth section, so they are mostly parents. The chances of getting on a pathway into jobs within the organisation are quite low, because it is all based on voluntary participation, and there are not many opportunities for employment on the football club side.On the foundation side, as I have mentioned, a lot of young people will start by coming to one of our youth work groups, or even our alternative school, and then they will go on a pathway of volunteering into an employment opportunity. A couple of people who have done that come to mind. Naomi Hume, our assistant operations manager, has been part of the project since we opened our doors; she has lived in Pilton all her life, and she used to come to our street football in a safe place initiative. As part of that free initiative, we open our community pitch every single day after school to local young people, who can come down, link with our youth workers and kick a ball about.Naomi progressed right the way through from being a participant to being a volunteer and then into a full-time role. It is an important role, too, especially on a match day, and comes with a huge level of responsibility. I often ask her, “Do you have any ambition to leave Spartans?” After Covid, she was given an opportunity to go work at Walter Scott, with whom we were working directly to provide packed lunches, and she turned it down, because, ultimately, Spartans is her home and her family. It has been a safe space for her since she was a young girl.We need to recognise that we have a duty of care to those young people, and we need to be able to provide them with opportunities in their local community. We also need to use their life experiences to improve our own programmes and delivery and inform the decisions that we make. About 14 years ago, I made a very conscious decision to move to and live in Pilton, because I felt that, if I was going to represent the community, I wanted to be part of it, and not just for the hours that I worked, but full time. Doing that sort of thing gives you much greater insight not just into what needs to be learned, but into what you can do better. Volunteers are at the heart of everything that we do.Can I give you a number for how many have progressed? No, but I will find that out and come back to you.
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...