Montrose Community Trust has landed vital funding to kick of a project aimed at helping local children in poverty.
The Free Kicks initiative will be based around street football and bring with it nourishing food for kids and low income families.
It was launched after the Links park charity discovered some youngsters only eat when they are at school.
Montrose is one of seven community trusts to benefit from the latest round of SPFL Trust innovation funding.
It has been set up to alleviate the impact of poverty in local communities.
The initiative will deliver around £10,000 of ‘seed funding’ to each participating community trust to test new ideas.
This approach provides flexibility to each charity, helping them to find ways that work effectively.
Next level
Montrose’s Free Kicks programme will address food insecurity in deprived areas of the town as well as focussing on overall health and wellbeing of those taking part.
Logan Cruickshank, project manager at Montrose Community Trust said it’s a major step forward.
“These programmes don’t run without funding ultimately, so the funding from the SPFL Trust will help support this programme and kick it on to what we hope will be a whole new level.
“Through local consultation with various multi-agencies including the police and local primary schools, we’ve come to find that there are children in the community who only eat when they’re at school.
The Montrose Trust will put together a busy programme to reach those who need support.
“By going out several times a week to some of the areas most in need, we’ll be able to provide a hot meal to those who want it and also physical activity,” said Logan.
“We’ll improve the mental health of children and families, but also physical health through street football.”
The Montrose charity was set up in 2012.
In its first decade the trust invested £1.8 million in community projects, delivering 50 programmes to more than 5,000 people.
Trust CEO recently shared with The Courier his vision for MCT’s future.
Creative thinking
SPFL Trust CEO Nicky Reid said: “Nobody should be living without access to a hot meal, so coupling the street food van with street football is an excellent idea.
“Following the success of our winter support fund, we wanted to continue to develop opportunities for community trusts to progress ideas and solutions that they believe will work locally.
“The SPFL Trust innovation fund is about enabling creative thinking and innovation, so that community trusts can demonstrate impact and show that their ideas can work.
“That should in turn allow them to look at longer term funding solutions.”
