Football in Scotland has a long history of bringing people together, with Scotland having the second oldest national Football Association in the world (behind England’s FA), and Scotland and Scottish football clubs holding many records for football attendances worldwide. So, it’s not surprising that charities have seen the potential for great fundraising and awareness raising of issues through great football, where passionate fans and fundraisers can both come out top of the table. We thought it would be interesting to look at some examples of fundraising through football to see just what charities have achieved pitch side.

In Scotland, a new way of harnessing the unique power of football has been unearthed, and is achieving spectacular results by breathing new life into Alzheimer’s sufferers. The project was launched two years ago and trains volunteers to spend time with people with dementia who have an interest in football by talking about teams and matches from the past and by working with images and memorabilia to stimulate memories. The project is a partnership between Alzheimer Scotland and the Scottish Football Museum based at Hampden Park. In the early days, one of the first clubs to get involved was Aberdeen and they now have three separate groups running, and Hibs, Hearts, St Johnstone and Forfar have started to run groups from inside their stadiums.

Stonewall, a leading gay rights charity based in the UK, has urged Premier League football players to wear rainbow-coloured bootlaces in a stand against homophobia in the game, and is launching a social media campaign to drum up support for the idea. While there has been support for the laces, some clubs have not taken part, highlighting the lack of prior consultation from the charity.

Barnardo’s Scotland Fostering has embarked on a unique partnership with Scottish Women’s Football launched at Hampden Park, Glasgow. The children’s charity is supporting Scottish Women’s and girl’s football in a bid to raise awareness of fostering and to make stronger links in the local communities. It is hoped the initiative will help raise awareness of the need for fostering and develop a good network of carers across the country.

Other ways in which football clubs and charities are working together can be seen in the case of trust and foundations, such as Falkirk Football Community Foundation which delivers innovative and diverse community programmes and also Big Hearts Community Trust and the Aberdeen AFC in the Community project. Falkirk Football Community Foundation’s work includes their community football programme which provides a fun and nurturing environment for children and young people to develop their skills and increase motivation for participation in physical activity, alongside their social programme. Many football clubs also have chosen charities for the year which they support throughout the season, such as Queen of the South Football Club, whose chosen charity for Season 2013/14 will continue to be Cash for Kids.