football

Playing to win with SPFL Trust’s Off the Bench Programme 

21 April 2025

 The Going Forward team are delighted to have rekindled our long-term partnership relationship with the SPFL Trust’s Off the Bench Programme. We recently caught up with Erin McPhillie, SPFL Trust’s CashBack Off the Bench Delivery Officer to talk about our partnership!

The Fast Forward workshop sessions continue to: 

  • complement and enhance the work of the Off the Bench Programme 
  • improve the knowledge, confidence and resilience of young people they work with 
  • deliver a marked impact in young people’s decision making on a range of risk-taking behaviours. 

Can you tell us a bit about the SPFL Trust’s Off The Bench Programme? 

The Off the Bench programme is for 16-24-year-olds at risk of offending. It will combine physical activity and classroom time; with content focusing on developing young people’s confidence, improving employability skills, speaking to employers, mock interviews and help gaining employment while also improving your physical health. 

How do the Going Forward sessions complement and enhance the work that you already deliver? 

The sessions delivered by Donald helped enhance the work that we do at Off the Bench. The relaxed and friendly style and tone of the sessions encouraged our young people to feel more comfortable with talking about their own experiences. While there is clearly a serious element to the sessions, the content clearly addresses serious issues in a fun, interactive and effective way. For example, many of the young people at the sessions were not aware of the effects that binge drinking can have on their long term mental and physical health. Donald’s sessions encourage them to think about the changes in behaviour and personality while under the influence of different substances.  

 What did you particularly like about the sessions? 

We really like the way in which the sessions are delivered. The sessions are educational, yet also very casual and friendly. The young people we work with really appreciate when they have approachable understanding people who do not make judgements on them and are able to have open conversations with them. The sessions are interactive and are very participant led which really helps keep all the participants feel at ease and be fully engaged.  

What sort of impact have the sessions had on the young people that you support? 

I think the biggest impact that the sessions have had for our young people has been hearing the rea- life stories and experiences that Donald builds into the workshops. This ‘real life’ element really helps to educate our young people on what can happen with drugs and alcohol. By sharing these experiences, it helps young people to feel more comfortable with talking to their peers about these issues. The sessions also touch on things like the recommended unit guidelines for alcohol, which you could tell surprised a few of the young people during the workshops.  

 

Want to find out more about Going Forward? 

To find out more about the Going Forward project, or discuss ways in which Going Forward could work with your organisation to develop and deliver a programme of sessions tailored to the specific needs of the young people that you support, simply e-mail the team, or give us a call: 

  • Telephone: 0131 554 4300. 

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