The Scottish Professional Football League Trust (SPFL Trust) has revealed that 30,596 people across Scotland have been engaged through a Legacy 2014 and Scottish League Cup funding programme with the Scottish Government.

Celtic FC Foundation is proud to be a part of this record-breaking overture through delivery of our Young Parents’ Support Project, a pilot initiative aimed at young people between the ages of 15 and 19.

The funding enabled Celtic FC Foundation to provide a residential camp for participating young parents. This featured a series of educational workshops promoting nutrition and hydration, money management and healthy lifestyle habits, as well as allowing for participant exploration of core values, emotions and relationships.

Ultimately, young parents learned the fundamental skills required in non-directive coaching to empower their own child and retain the capacity to self-coach, thus creating a greater independent self.

In total, 40 clubs – including all Ladbrokes Premiership clubs – participated in delivering life-changing activity relevant to the needs of the community in which they are based.

The engagement total marks the biggest single-impact community campaign that Scottish football has ever seen.

A detailed report, including analysis of every participating club, was launched the National Stadium, Hampden Park by former Celtic star Joe Miller ahead of this weekend’s Betfred Cup Final (Sunday, 27 November, 3pm).

Each club, or its community trust, was invited to apply for a £11,000 grant to deliver a programme of activity which engaged people, often in traditionally hard to reach places.

Activity covered one of 18 different areas of need, and all met key requirements according to the Scottish Government’s strategic objectives.

Over one third of clubs in Scotland are based in areas with the lowest scores on the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation (SIMD). With a cost of £16.34 per engagement, the SPFL Trust is convinced of the exceptional return on investment, both financially, and also in terms of widening accessibility.

Nicky Reid, General Manager at the SPFL Trust, commented:

“The impact as demonstrated in this Legacy 2014 report has been incredible and we are so very proud of the part that Celtic FC Foundation has played in its undoubted success. Scottish football has once again shown its remarkable capacity to engage hard to reach groups, by using the power of each club’s reach within the communities in which they are supported. The Legacy 2014 programme is the single-biggest programme of community engagement Scottish football has ever seen. It demonstrates the value that the SPFL Trust and our clubs working together can deliver to the country.”

Aileen Campbell MSP, Minister for Sport, added: “This programme demonstrates the on-going legacy of the 2014 Commonwealth Games and the power of football – and sport in general – to reach out to people and change lives. Football can be a powerful force for good, and this report underlines that.

“I’m delighted that more than 500 people have earned professional qualifications and dozens of people with disabilities are now enjoying sport and all the benefits that can bring. If people are able to get into employment, or become more active, their health and standard of living can improve immeasurably. Perhaps best of all, much of this work was carried out in some of Scotland’s more deprived communities, helping to reduce inequalities.”