Falkirk Community Trust Annual Report Small version

2019-2020

annual report

Our Results at a glance 7,352 sports development participant sessions, up 6.1%

45,492 users of library digital resources, an increase of 75%

Our Active Forth physical activity referral programme reached its 10th year

Our Vision

The new health and fitness offer at Mariner Centre opened and the centre improved its VisitScotland quality assurance rating to become a 4* attraction

Our Mission

140 Care Words sessions, reaching 173 new clients

Health and fitness delivered £1.8m in income, up 14%, with a record 6,428 members (pre-lockdown)

We were shortlisted in 3 out of 9 categories for the Community Leisure UK awards

10% increase in attendances at Callendar House Christmas Adventure 2019 (actual attends 3570)

Falkirk’s communities are the most creative and active they can be

To lead culture and sport to enrich people’s lives in the Falkirk area

Our Values • Valuing the positive difference people make • Acting with integrity • Placing people’s needs at the heart of everything we do • Being proud of what we can achieve together

Meeting Our Objectives: Meeting Customer Needs • Increased focus on supporting the older generation, with the new opening of the Shapemaster facility at the Mariner • Increased visits to our website with 849,428 visits across the year, an increase of 30,000 and an increase in likes and followers of 15% on social media • Ongoing community engagement in heritage through the Great Place project • Continued development of arts programming informed by new ticketing system • Callendar House and the Kelpies continue to receive 5* reviews on TripAdvisor.

Ensuring Financial Viability • Increased income at all our health and fitness clubs - Bo’ness, Grangemouth, Mariner and Stenhousemuir • Opened the new health and fitness offer at the Mariner • Received income of £968,683 from grant making bodies • Utilised reserves to invest in business growth projects • Our reliance on income from Council funding reduced from 57% to 54%, significantly down from 72% in the Trust’s first year of operation.

Leadership and Community Development Capacity • Improved our external communications with the launch of three new websites during this financial year • Increased the number of clubs and organisations we worked with • Continued to support Grangemouth Golf Club work towards community management of the golf course • Continued to develop and grow our volunteer base through creating new opportunities.

Inclusion The Step Forth walking for health programme, which aims to get the population of Falkirk more active, is now into its 16th year! Building upon Falkirk’s recognition as the ‘Best UK Walking Neighbourhood’ awarded by The Ramblers in 2019, we have 26 volunteer led walks per week running from all week, in all weathers.

Our Active Forth physical activity referral programme is designed specifically for people diagnosed with a range of medical conditions. Customers so referred have the opportunity of a personalised gym programme and classes at our four health and fitness clubs. Our programme was recently recognised as having best practice in Scotland and we were selected to present at the Scottish Physical Activity Research Conference! The key to our success is the partnership working we undertake with local health professionals.

Development 2019-20 was an excellent year for our libraries, with use of a wide range of services hitting record levels. Our digital activity soared with digital issues, including eBooks, eAudiobooks and eMagazines, increasing by 75% on the previous year. Our combined physical and digital issues rose from 689,166 to 700,706 units. Bookbug song and rhyme sessions, for young families, had attendances of over 12,500 this year, and we welcomed pupils visiting with their school class more than 3,000 times.

Our Home Library Service takes the library experience into the heart of our communities, while for those members of our community who live in residential care, our Care Words reading and reminiscence sessions reached 173 new clients.

Falkirk Council has committed to develop the Mariner Centre into a leisure service of choice for the Falkirk community, which will help us achieve its income

potential, reducing the subsidy levels whilst contributing to a healthier community.

2018. The ÂŁ1.2m refurbishment of the gym and fitness facilities includes the first fully immersive Les Mills workout environment in Scotland. This is complemented by a 65-station gym, a training rig and functional training equipment. A new Shapemaster Hub, with 12 pieces of power assisted equipment, caters for those with long-term medical conditions.

Building on the success of our first professional pantomime in 2018, we once again partnered with Imagine Theatre increasing the schedule for Aladdin in 2019.

Callendar House was transformed into Santa’s HQ as more than 3,500 toddlers, children and their families helped the elves save the big day in the Callendar House Christmas Adventure.. In total, we welcomed more than 17,500 people to our three programmed cultural venues (FTH Theatre, Hippodrome and Callendar House) during the four-week run up to Christmas.

Awards The Business Archive Council (BAC), a national charity that promotes the preservation of business records of historical importance, awarded its 2019 Grant for Business Archives related to Sports Award to Falkirk Community Trust for cataloguing the archive collection of Falkirk Football Club.

Exceptional staff hospitality along with the transformation of the facilities we offer helped improve the star rating of the Mariner Centre during the 2020 VisitScotland inspection. The VisitScotland Inspector commented: “I am delighted to confirm the Falkirk Community Trust - Mariner Centre has achieved a 4-star award with an overall 80% score.

1% 4%

How we were funded Falkirk Council Grants Fundraising Income Total

£ £10,899,000 £158,460 £810,223 £8,286,317 20,154,000

19-20 54% 1% 4% 41%

18-19 57% 2% 3% 38%

£ £907,000 £46,000 £131,000 £2,785,000 £1,853,000 £433,000 £656,000 £205,000 £90,000 £2,149,000 £10,899,000 20,154,000

19-20 5% 0% 1% 14% 9% 2% 3% 1% 0% 11% 54%

18-19 5% 1% 1% 13% 8% 2% 2% 1% 1% 10% 57%

£ £2,128,000 £656,000 £2,388,000 £6,151,000 £1,536,000 £1,187,000 £982,000 £614,000 £1,228,000 £1,856,000 £580,000 £1,054,000 20,360,000

19-20 10% 3% 12% 30% 8% 6% 5% 3% 6% 9% 3% 5%

18-19 10% 4% 12% 31% 7% 7% 6% 3% 5% 8% 3% 6%

How our resources were spent Arts Heritage Libraries Sport Fitness Helix Parks & Golf Courses Outdoors Business Development Trading Activities Governance & Management Falkirk Council Service Payments Total

41%

54%

How our income was generated Arts Heritage Libraries Sport Fitness Helix Parks & Golf Courses Outdoors Business Development Trading Activities Falkirk Council Service Fee Total

54+1441

Financial Performance

5+1+149231154 10 +312308659 5%

1%

14%

9%

54%

2%

3% 1%

11%

3%

3%

10%

5%

9%

12%

6%

3%

5%

30%

6%

8%

Partnerships We pride ourselves in working collaboratively with a broad range of organisations, whether they are voluntary, private or public sector.

Our green spaces have benefitted from our working with a range of partners. The European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development: Europe Investing in rural areas, through LEADER Kelvin Valley and Falkirk LAG, our Great Place project and the Friends of Kinneil were instrumental in the Hidden Heritage Project at Kinneil Estate.

Now in its second year, our Great Place scheme launched a busy programme of activities for local communities. Supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund, in partnership with Falkirk Council, Scottish Canals and Central Scotland Green Network

Trust, Great Place is all about exploring and celebrating local heritage.

The Rediscovering the Antonine Wall Project has enabled us to create a wealth of different projects. It has been fantastic to benefit from local authority partnerships across central Scotland which has resulted in the new Roman themed play area at Callendar Park.

In partnership with Falkirk Council Children’s Services we deliver Falkirk YMI (Youth Music Initiative) - a Scotland-wide initiative funded by the Scottish Government through Creative Scotland. Working with the school clusters we offer music provision across all primary and nursery schools in the Council area, as well as providing the after school Trad Music Project for young people.

Governance Falkirk Community Trust is a company limited by guarantee and does not have share capital. Falkirk Council is the sole member of the Company. The Company commenced trading on the 1 July 2011 and any surpluses generated by the Company are reinvested to improve the facilities and services which we provide to the communities of the Falkirk area.

Registered office: Falkirk Community Trust, Suite 1A, The Falkirk Community Stadium, 4 Stadium Way, Falkirk FK2 9EE | www.falkirkcommunitytrust.org You can view and download a full version of our Annual Report here: www.falkirkcommunitytrust.org/about/ Registered Charity No. SC042403 Company Registered in Scotland No. 400657 Falkirk Community Trust gratefully acknowledges the support of Falkirk Council.

Social icon

Circle Only use blue and/or white.

For more details check out our Brand Guidelines.