Falkirk Foundation joins multi-area initiative to tackle child poverty
Falkirk residents will see a new route into support this year after Falkirk FC’s Community Foundation joined four other football community trusts in a Scottish Government-backed partnership worth £850,000. The programme, called Centre Circle, aims to provide whole-family help for households experiencing financial hardship and related pressures.
Centre Circle brings together Big Hearts Community Trust (Hearts), Aberdeen FC Community Trust, Morton in the Community and The Killie Community (Kilmarnock) to deliver co-ordinated support across five local authority areas: Edinburgh, Falkirk, Aberdeen, Inverclyde and East Ayrshire. In its first year the partnership is expected to support around 500 families.
What support will be offered locally?
The programme is built on the principle that families are more likely to seek help from community organisations they already know and trust. In Falkirk, Centre Circle will build on the Foundation’s existing links with schools, local businesses and services to provide a simpler route into support.
- Practical help with financial hardship and maximising household income
- Support with household costs and access to childcare
- Mental health and wellbeing assistance
- Job support and youth activities
- Dedicated family coaching to help families navigate services
Organisers emphasise a focus on families who may be "hidden" from support — those who fall below legal thresholds for assistance, or who are less likely to seek help until problems escalate. The model places family coaches alongside households to identify needs and help them access services more easily.
“This is a significant opportunity for Falkirk and for the families we support every day. We see families dealing with financial pressure, poor mental health, isolation, difficulties at school and other challenges that often overlap,”
The quote above was provided by the chief executive of Falkirk Football Community Foundation, reflecting the Foundation’s experience of overlapping issues among the families it already supports.
Scale and local implications
Centre Circle is positioned as an early-intervention model intended to prevent problems reaching crisis point by co-ordinating services and improving access. For Falkirk, that means the Foundation’s established presence in schools and the community will be used to identify and refer households into the programme.
Details of how and when local families can access Centre Circle support are expected to be published shortly by the Foundation. The announcement did not set out precise eligibility criteria, referral routes or the allocation of the partnership funding between the five delivery areas.
| Delivery areas | Role |
|---|---|
| Edinburgh | Partner delivery area |
| Falkirk | Local delivery via Falkirk FC Community Foundation |
| Aberdeen | Partner delivery area |
| Inverclyde | Partner delivery area |
| East Ayrshire | Partner delivery area |
Across the five areas, Centre Circle aims to support approximately 500 families in year one. The partnership brings together grassroots organisations with local knowledge and football trusts’ community reach to try to ensure earlier, easier access to advice and support.
Further information on how Centre Circle will operate locally — including referral pathways, locations for family coaching and timetables — will be released by the Foundation in due course. For now, the announcement signals a commitment to combining community relationships with targeted support to address child poverty and its associated harms in Falkirk and the other delivery areas.
