The STV Children’s Appeal has announced 11 charity partners that will receive multi-year funding and support through its newly created Ignite Fund. The charities will receive a share of over £1 million this year, delivering positive impact on the lives of children, young people and families in Scotland.
The Ignite Fund aims to break the cycle of child poverty in Scotland by providing multi-year, sustained financial and development support to charities across the country. Since its inception in 2011 STV Children’s Appeal has invested in long-term projects with charitable organisations, the Ignite Fund is an important extension of this strategy. Four existing long-term partners are joined by a further seven under the new Ignite Fund umbrella.
The charity partners are: Flexible Childcare Services Scotland (FCSS), Dundee Bairns, Thrive at Five, One Community Scotland, Scran Academy, The Yard, Why Not? Trust, Community Volunteers Enabling You (COVEY), Glasgow Kelvin College, Place2Be & Youth Scotland, and Who Cares? Scotland.
From building inclusive community spaces for disabled children and young people, to creating peer-supported environments for care-experienced parents, and tackling complex social issues such as gang involvement, unhealthy relationships, and drug use —the Ignite Fund partners are selected for their expertise and commitment to addressing and providing actionable solutions to the root causes of poverty. Their work not only brings immediate improvements but also fosters lasting change by building knowledge and networks that secure sustainable outcomes.
The STV Children’s Appeal will work closely with its charity partners to understand their goals, ambitions, and the resources they need to grow and make a meaningful impact in their communities. The charities will also be part of the Ignite Academy which provides access to STV’s in-house expertise (such as marketing, communications and creative) to offer support and guidance, and will create an inter-charity support network focused on knowledge and skill sharing.
Paul Reynolds, STV Children’s Appeal’s Chair of Trustees, said: “The creation of the Ignite Fund sees us extend our work with long-term partners to give a voice to – and crucially, help make a lasting difference for – children, young people and families in Scotland. Our eleven charity partners do incredible work and know best how to support the communities they serve. We’re proud to stand beside them in our quest to both deliver immediate impact and find ways to build better futures.”
Flexible Childcare Services Scotland (FCSS), which is in their first year of funding, has already seen great success with its flexible childcare model which allows parents to book by the hour and change their bookings in line with their employment commitments, this approach to childcare which opens up opportunities for parents to start, continue or develop in their employment. One mother has been able to restart her hairdressing career since enrolling her child in the Aberdonian FCSS nursery. She has now opened her own salon, where she now employs other parents who previously struggled to juggle childcare and work, lifting more children and families out of poverty.
Susan McGhee, CEO at FCSS, said: “We have so many success stories – 86% of the parents we support are in part time or full-time employment. Again and again, we prove this works – it’s a simple system which is scalable and a great blueprint for how we can move forward in Scotland, and across the UK, to better support families and parents who face these very common challenges.
“Nearly 140,000 economically inactive adults struggle with caring responsibilities due to finances and schedules. The call for change is urgent, and thanks to STV Children’s Appeal, we’ll be able to help more families and continue to grow.”
COVEY, which delivers befriending and family support services, is in its second year of a partnership with STV Children’s Appeal.
Lee Johnstone, CEO at COVEY, said: “Since beginning our partnership with STV, we have seen our Flourishing Families project thrive. Through this project, we work alongside families to help them navigate one of the most challenging transitions in a young person’s life – the move from primary to secondary school. With early and tailored support, young people are improving school attendance, confidence, and emotional wellbeing. The parents and carers of these young people feel more empowered, with stronger family relationships and better access to essential services. By taking a holistic, whole-family approach, Flourishing Families is tackling the root causes of poverty, isolation and educational disengagement, creating lasting change where it’s needed most.”
The Ignite Fund is just one part of the STV Children’s Appeal. The Appeal also contributes to local grassroot charities and organisations via a small grants programme, which is delivered in partnership with other funders and supports community-led efforts. Additionally, through a long-standing relationship with the Wood Foundation’s Youth and Philanthropy Initiative, young people are empowered to make a positive difference in their communities.
About The Ignite Fund
The Ignite Fund is an extension of STV Children’s Appeal’s work with long-term charity partners since 2011. The vision is based on building strong partnerships which will bring into focus: prevention of poverty and its activating factors, supporting charities to deliver immediate impact alongside the development of knowledge in matters of critical importance in tackling child poverty in Scotland.
Providing longer term support to partners to help develop, test, improve and scale systems which have been shown to deliver positive impact.
The Ignite Academy also aims to create a supportive network for charity partners to share knowledge with each other and with STV Children’s Appeal, and provides access to STV’s resources and skills as a way of providing vital non-cash assets to improve effectiveness and long-term financial sustainability
This solutions-based approach aligns strongly with the Scottish Government’s Best Start, Bright Futures: tackling child poverty delivery plan and will have a nationwide impact as partners support communities across Scotland.
About the STV Children’s Appeal Ignite Fund charity partners:
In their first year, the following charities will be working with
- Flexible Childcare Services Scotland (FCSS) – Across seven Local Authorities from East Ayrshire to Moray, FCSS removes barriers around employment for low-income families by allowing them to book and pay solely for the childcare they need, freeing parents to enter, remain or progress within employment, increasing their earnings and move away from a life in or on the edges of poverty. The Ignite Fund will help the charity scale up and aim to change national policy.
- Dundee Bairns – Aiming to support around 1000 families and 1500 children aged 5-18 in Dundee. The organisation will continue to tackle issues causing children to go hungry, avoid school, struggle emotionally and academically by providing in-depth, face-to-face support on a constant basis and build a stronger community for local families.
- Thrive at Five – Thrive at Five focuses on improving early childhood outcomes in socio-economically deprived areas by empowering parents and building stronger community support systems through collaboration across sectors. Using a community-driven, evidence-based model the charity addresses developmental disparities in children aged five and under and is creating a Playbook to guide broader implementation across the UK.
- One Community Scotland, Pathways to Success – Aimed at young people 10-25 in Glasgow and surrounding areas, Pathways to Success will be implementing an innovate programme of interactive workshops and creative arts sessions designed to educate and empower vulnerable youth, with the aim of steering them away from challenges including truancy, gang-involvement and drug use.
- Scran Academy – Scran is a youth-led social enterprise model supporting young people into education and employment through youth cafés and tailored programmes, with plans to increase its impact by expanding sites and deepening its preventative work. With new opportunities in Lothian and strategic support from the STV Children’s Appeal, Scran aims to scale and strengthen its model, reach younger age groups earlier, and generate systemic change through frontline insight.
- The Yard – With play and education centres in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aberdeen and Kirkcaldy, the Yard supports disabled children and their families across the country by building inclusive communities and delivering personalised, high-quality services. Over the next five years, it aims to expand nationally, enhance professional training through digital platforms, and tackle systemic challenges like poverty and exclusion through strategic partnerships and its impactful “Our Kids Won’t Wait” campaign.
- Why Not? Trust – This project supports care-experienced parents through its ‘Village Creative’, a tried-and-tested community-based, peer-led initiative that builds parenting skills, confidence, and social connections, helping families thrive while reducing isolation and promoting mental well-being. It will use the Ignite Fund partnership to expand across Scotland, offering a sustainable, relational alternative to traditional services and influencing systemic change through collaboration with local authorities.
The following organisations are existing multi-year partners of the STV Children’s Appeal and are joining the newly created Ignite Fund:
Who Cares? Scotland: In this latest bout of funding, the partnership will help the organisation deliver a programme of work that will create ‘Communities that Care’ within Clackmannanshire Local Authority. A dedicated team is working to increase its reach Care Experienced children and young people.
Community Volunteers Enabling You (COVEY) – delivers personalised befriending and family support across Lanarkshire. With support from STV Children’s Appeal’s Ignite Fund it will continue to deliver its Flourishing Families project, which provides early intervention for families facing poverty and social isolation to improve well-being, confidence, and engagement with education during key school transitions.
Glasgow Kelvin College – The Community and Youth Hub at Glasgow Kelvin College, co-funded by the STV Children’s Appeal, provides accessible, after-hours learning and wellbeing activities for disadvantaged communities, offering vital support to individuals and families to combat isolation, build resilience, and create pathways to education and employment.
Place2Be & Youth Scotland – This continuing partnership is to fund Y2Be, a community-based programme that has provided youth workers with foundational mental health training to better support young people’s emotional wellbeing and strengthen community-based support networks.people’s emotional wellbeing and strengthen community-based support networks.
