Our plan for this sponsorship would be to expand the targeted provision of our 'Talking Football' (football and literacy) programmes to schools who have the greatest demonstrable need across Glasgow but who are unable to fund this through their existing school or Pupil Equity Fund budgets (which is unlikely to be in place for the 2025/26 school year!).

Our innovative Talking Football programme allows a class to take on various roles to show how literacy rich football is. This includes commentary, written journalism, talking and listening as part of a team and analysing clips to allow all children to engage with football and to let them see how many other jobs are available in sports, away from just playing. In each school community, we would work with school leaders – and pupils where appropriate – to target the most necessary messages to include alongside the key themes of the programme.

"It was an excellent way of linking developing the young workforce through the concept of football. Sessions were relaxed, fun, educational and skills based. The commentary lesson and the press conference, in particular, were thoroughly enjoyed by the children. Children were engaged through and keen for Mondays to roll around again for the next session. The physical aspect to it continued to develop skills in the children with a focus on listening and team work. Rave reviews from the kids after each session - I hope that we get to work with Clyde Football next year!" Class teacher, Dalmarnock Primary School, Glasgow

Provision would be targeted at areas where SIMD health and educational deprivation indicators demonstrate the greatest need in Glasgow. The budget would be spent on sessional staff costs and equipment and would allow us to deliver the programme to 30 schools during the 2025/26 academic year, reaching between 900 and 1000 young people.