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FAST work: Craigroyston families graduate from pioneering programme

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Sixteen families from Craigroyston Primary ‘graduated’ from a pioneering education programme this week, proven to help children achieve more in schools and strengthen their relationships with their families.

Parents and carers and their children aged three to eight, who attend Craigroyston Primary School, have successfully completed an eight week Families and School Together (FAST) programme. This is the second time the local primary School has run the programme.

The FAST programme, backed by Save the Children, supports families by working with parents and children in schools and has been endorsed by the United Nations.

Originally developed in the US by Professor Lynn McDonald, FAST now runs throughout the UK. It is entirely voluntary, open to all and is designed to give all children the chance to succeed at school.

Typical activities include singing, family games such as emotional charades and special play, sitting down together to eat a family meal and supporting parents in setting boundaries.

FAST aims to provide a fun and relaxed space for families to experience a mixture of play and learning activities, hands on coaching and support for parents and carers. Each week families can win a resource hamper to help support children’s learning in the home. The programme has high success rates in improving family relationships and links between home, school and the local community.

Save the Children say: “FAST has been so successful and the feedback we get from schools and parents is always so positive. The programme has been a great success in schools. Parents have the biggest influence on their children’s learning and development and FAST gives families the opportunity to build on this.

“We believe that every child should have a fair chance to do the best they can at school and that every family should have access to proper support in their local area.”

Total Craigroyston CLD worker Sarah Neal added: “The FAST programme was a great success. Our families got a lot out of the programme and there was a real buzz about the sessions. I’ve no doubt that they will go on to build on what they have achieved and learned together over the last few weeks.”

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Peace be with you: Spartans Community Football Academy recruits new sponsor

Local recruitment company supports community initiative 

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Peace Recruitment is delighted to announce it has teamed up with The Spartans Community Football Academy to help give more young people in Edinburgh an opportunity to learn through the power of sport.

The Spartans Community Football Academy, based at Ainslie Park in Pilton, is literally a stones-throw away from Peace Recruitment’s head offices in Ferry Road the charity which uses sport to provide young people with learning and development opportunities.

Spartans’ vision is to redefine what’s possible for a football club in terms of community engagement and participation, by delivering a positive social impact through the power of people and sport. It also aims to improve health, increase employment opportunities and reduce crime in the area.

Peace, which has agreed to become a sponsor, aims to work alongside the charity assisting the youngsters it helps with career decisions, work experience and ultimately finding jobs. 

“We were really keen to put something back into our local community, and were looking for an opportunity that really makes a difference to people’s lives in the area – and Spartans really stood out to us,” explained Chris Peace, Managing Director of Peace Recruitment.

“I am a local boy who grew up in this part of Edinburgh, so have witnessed first-hand the Spartans evolution. Spartans is unique and is so much more than a football club, it plays a huge part in the local community working alongside schools and different organisations encouraging more people to not only take part in sport but to learn, make better decisions and in many cases turn their lives around. It invests in their physical and emotional wellbeing, as well as helping out with their home life, giving youngsters a chance they may not otherwise have had.

“I could not be prouder to sponsor them and will hopefully become more involved in the years to come. I would like to use Peace Recruitment’s expertise to help teach the youngsters at Spartans about careers and what options they have available to them, and then through this hopefully place them in jobs where they can flourish.”

Spartans’ Craig Graham said: “Everyone at Spartans is delighted to have Peace Recruitment on board.  They are a great example of a flourishing local business and we’re delighted Chris is so passionate about helping us at Spartans.  We are about to open our brand new dedicated Youth Work Centre with some exciting, fresh programmes and we’ll use the investment from Peace to support these.  We are very grateful for their support and look forward to a long lasting relationship”. 

Spartans has senior teams competing in both the Lowland Football League and the East of Scotland League. Spartans also has a Saturday amateur side, several women’s teams, including Spartans W.F.C., who play in the Scottish Women’s Premier League and a thriving youth section with 600 youngsters attending regularly. 

Peace Recruitment has transformed itself from a ‘one-man-band’ into a multi-million pound company in just over six years. It now aims to be the company of choice in Scotland for the construction, property and engineering sectors within the next five years.

Peace recently became the first recruitment company in the UK to join the Institute of Customer Service. It has also just announced that it will be taking part in the Building My Skills programme which has just been newly launched in Scotland.

For more information about Peace Recruitment visit www.peacerecruitment.co.uk.