Falkirk Football Community Foundation is joining four other leading football community charities in a new £850,000 Whole Family Support partnership designed to help tackle child poverty across Scotland.
The partnership will establish five Centre Circle Whole Family Support Initiatives across Edinburgh, Falkirk, Aberdeen, Inverclyde and East Ayrshire, with the aim of supporting around 500 families in its first year.
Centre Circle will provide families with a trusted, community-based route into practical, financial and wellbeing support. In Falkirk, the programme will build on the Foundation’s existing relationships with families, schools, community organisations, local services and partners.
The model is based on a simple idea; families are more likely to ask for help earlier when support is available through an organisation they already know and trust.
Through Centre Circle, families will be able to access help with financial hardship, benefits and income maximisation, food and household costs, mental health and wellbeing, employability, childcare pressures, transport, activities for children and young people, and access to specialist services.
A particular focus will be placed on families who are hidden from support, below statutory thresholds or less likely to engage with traditional services until pressures have become more difficult to manage.
Dedicated Family Support Coaches will work with parents, carers, children and young people to understand the needs of the whole household and help them access the right support at the right time.
Falkirk Football Community Foundation Chief Executive Derek Allison said:
“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. Centre Circle gives us the opportunity to provide a clearer and more coordinated route into support before problems reach crisis point.
Falkirk Foundation already works with thousands of people across our community every year, including families, volunteers and people with a strong connection to Falkirk. This investment allows us to build on that trust and reach and provide a much more coordinated approach to supporting families.
Importantly, this is not about duplicating the excellent work already taking place across Falkirk. It is about strengthening local partnerships, making support easier to navigate and helping families get the right help earlier.
We are extremely proud that Falkirk Foundation is one of the five organisations helping to shape Centre Circle and that Falkirk will play an important role in demonstrating what trusted, community-based Whole Family Support can achieve.”
Big Hearts Community Trust will lead the national partnership, alongside Aberdeen FC Community Trust, Morton in the Community and The Killie Community.
Centre Circle is funded through the Whole Family Support Third Sector Delivery Fund. The Scottish Government announced that the football consortium was one of only 10 organisations selected through the £20 million fund for 2026/27, with the wider programme expected to support up to 35,000 families across almost all of Scotland.
For Falkirk, this is about more than a new programme. It is an opportunity to strengthen the support already available across our community, work even more closely with our partners and build on the trust we have with families, volunteers and people with a strong connection to Falkirk.
**Further information on local delivery and how families can access Centre Circle support will be announced in due course. **
