Youth Work

FooTEA Clubs

On Wednesday and Friday evenings our FooTEA clubs welcome young people aged from 7-16 years. Participants can enjoy multi-sport activities, games or relax and hang out in the youth work space. Everyone gets a nutritious evening meal. FooTEA clubs are delivered by our Youth Work team and are an opportunity for the youth workers to build strong, trusting relationships with local young people. On Thursdays MC FooTEA Club (multi-cultural) welcomes children from a wide range of ethnic and cultural backgrounds.This service acts to signpost children and families towards mainstream youth work and support services that they may not otherwise know about or have previously accessed.

Spartans AM Breakfast Club

Launched by our ambassador Tom Kitchen, in April 2016 young people aged 10-14 years can now have breakfast and take part in fun games and activities on Saturday mornings. This club is targeted at children who receive free school meals during the school week. The club is growing in popularity and now has a regular core of about 15 young people, many of whom are referred by local Head Teachers.

Street Football in a Safe Place

Every week over100 young people enjoy free supervised access to our community football pitch where they can come along and play football in a safe place. Participants sign the 'Players Contract' (designed by the young people who play here) which promotes fair play, good behaviour and a duty of care towards The Academy and the community.

Street Fit-Baw

In response to demand from local young people, and in partnership with local youth agencies and the police, we deliver supervised evening football sessions in community venues using our portable pitch. This programme tackles anti-social behaviour and enables our Youth Work team to interact and engage with young people in their own environment, many of whom would not normally travel to The Academy. 

Street Football in a Safe Playground

During the school year, The Spartans Community Football Academy coaches and youth workers supervise lunchtime and after-school play in local primary schools. Pupils receive structured, quality physical activity sessions and can interact and engage with our staff and are encouraged to come along to The Academy.

Making Magic Memories

Our Youth Work team take young people aged from 7-18 years on day trips around Scotland. For many of the participants it may be the first time they have travelled beyond Edinburgh. In 2015 we arranged 13 trips, taking 160 young people to places such as Go-Ape, the Time-Capsule and Hampden Park to watch the national team.

Friday Night Chill

The North Edinburgh Youth Talk Consultation recently highlighted a lack of safe places for young people to socialise and hang out, especially on weekends and evenings. In response, The Academy youth work space is now open for Friday Night Chill catering to young people aged 14 years and above.

Girls Only Club

Our most recent programme is our Wednesday evening Girls Only Club. This club was developed in response to demand from the girls who attended our Friday FooTEA, who wanted a girls-only environment. Girls aged 11-18 years can socialise and take part in a range of activities from football to facials.

Hopscotch Holidays

In partnership with local charity Hopscotch, we take small groups of young people aged 7-11 years on an annual residential break in rural Scotland. The majority of these children would not otherwise have the opportunity to experience and enjoy a holiday away from home.

Young People's Committee

This committee consists of a group of young people who attend The Academy and an Academy youth worker. Together they share their knowledge and experience of the local area and work to develop and shape what happens at The Academy.