At Blairgowrie & Rattray Community Football Trust, we are looking to develop a non-football free community programme, operating alongside club & recreational football activities. Based at the brand new social hub at Davie Park's stadium, we aim to improve health & wellbeing for all, irrespective of age, ability, gender or ethnicity, in response to inequalities experienced by residents of the surrounding area.
Description
As a result of improvements made at the stadium at Davie Park, Blairgowrie & Rattray Community Football Trust (BRCFT) are excited to offer a programme of activities within the new built-for-purpose social space, designed to benefit the needs of the entire community, by promoting improved health & wellbeing.
It is BRCFT’s intention to open the space on an ad-hoc basis daily to provide a warm, welcoming space for residents of the SIMD 1 community in which it sits. As a result of ongoing community engagement, this has been identified as something that is very much needed, particularly during the winter months, due to the levels of deprivation the neighbouring communities are facing, resulting in glaring health inequalities.
However, not only do we want to open this space to use when needed, but we also intend to develop an activity programme that brings the community through the doors, providing the ability to utilise other support services that are on offer and, thus, reducing the stigma of accepting help. Due to the strength of the presence that BRCFT and the sport of football has in the local community, it provides the unique opportunity to destigmatise and normalise the acceptance of support, making the Trust in a powerful position to monitor changing needs and be responsive to this.
The health & wellbeing project is designed to alleviate the impact of poverty and the cost-of-living on the health and wellbeing of Rattray residents. Recent key findings from SPICe publication titled ‘getting the inactive active: barriers to physical activity and their potential policy solutions’ (Scottish Parliament, 2025) highlights that Scotland have ‘disproportionately poor health outcomes’ and those facing the highest levels of deprivation are far less likely to participate in sport and physical activity, despite being the population that benefit most from it. Therefore, this identifies the need for a more targeted offering, due to the following conclusions:
1. 35% of school pupils living in 20% most deprived areas in Scotland are most likely to be inactive (only 23% for those in 20% least deprived areas evidencing the health inequalities).
2. People with disabilities, who are also experiencing poverty, are considerably more likely to have higher levels of sedentary behaviour.
3. Only 55% of 65–74-year-olds meet CMO guidelines for physical activity – 29% have very low activity.
4. Physical inactivity costs NHS Scotland over £77 million per annum.
Therefore, to support the Rattray community to improve these outcomes, the health & wellbeing project will encompass the following main features:
1. Introduce free BRCFT-led activities using new staff structure – Football Education Officer, Football Development Officer & sessional coaches
2. Provide venue hire at no cost to community organisations that promote improved health & wellbeing - 3 hours per week available with the focus being on mental health, women & girls, and disabilities, due to identified need.
3. Ad-hoc use of venue as a warm space – community café-style offering, hot drinks facilities consistently available etc.
This funding would be utilised to develop our initial programme of free activities, inclusive of:
1. Games club - video and board games in a social environment with physical activity incorporated into session - designed to encourage inactive children and young people to attend and increase physical activity levels.
2. Weight management sessions 'Fan Fitness' - 90-minute session for over 35s to improve mental, social and physical health by promoting lifestyle and behaviour changes through fun, educational and interactive activities.
3. Walking group - low-level activity suitable for all ages and abilities.
4. Sporting memories - supporting people aged 50+ including those living with dementia, depression or facing social isolation to improve their mental and physical wellbeing.
5. Activities for people with disabilities - adaptive and inclusive activities for people with disabilities who face limited access to activities to support their health & wellbeing due to related barriers.
It is essential to be able to provide access to activities at no cost to support those who are least active to become more active by reducing the barriers of participation, such as cost. This provides the opportunity to build upon the activity provision to reduce health inequalities in the area as BRCFT continue to build partnerships with NHS Tayside.
Although the maximum benefits are likely to be experienced by those living in Rattray, due to evidence that targeted physical activity provision is largely more beneficial in the 20% most deprived areas, it won’t be limited to the Rattray community due to BRCFT having a broader remit in Blairgowrie, Rattray and surrounding areas, and pockets of deprivation existing even in more affluent areas.
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