Background information
Heart of Midlothian and our partners at the City of Edinburgh Council, Heriot-Watt University, Sport Scotland, the Health Education Board Scotland, and the Police have embarked on one of the most exciting and innovative projects that Scotland's capital city has ever seen.
With the launch of The Heart of Midlothian Education and Community Trust we aim to utilise the "Power of Sport" to motivate, educate and inspire tens of thousands of children and adults within our community, through a range of innovative and progressive programmes and events.
There are five key areas to The Heart of Midlothian Education and Community Trust:
Grassroots Sport - In conjunction with the City of Edinburgh Council we aim to provide more opportunities in schools for children to participate in football, through target specific coaching schemes.
Club Development - Youth Football Clubs in the capital provide opportunities for thousands of children to play football. We aim to support these clubs and to help them to grow by lending the expertise that Heart of Midlothian's coaches possesses, along with, where appropriate, facilities and equipment.
Healthy Communities - In partnership with the City of Edinburgh Council, we aim to create a programme of activities and events which tackle the problem of anti-social behaviour. These programmes aim to develop an understanding of what is acceptable behaviour and what is unacceptable behaviour in our communities.
Healthy Lifestyles - In Scotland there is a drastic need to encourage children to become more active and in doing so see this lead on to healthier lifestyles. We aim to use Heart of Midlothian's players as role models and develop a healthy lifestyle presentation for schools which should act as an inspirational tool for children and teachers.
Education - The trust will aim to develop an extensive literacy and numeracy programme, which motivates children in order to give them the opportunity to develop academic and life skills to their full potential, therefore providing success for all.
Click for more details on three of our biggest programmes:
>>> Hearts Learning Centre (Education)
>>> Magnificent Seven (Healthy Communities)
You can also use the navigation on the right side of every page within the Heart of Midlothian Education and Community Trust section to look at other projects, including our extensive football programmes.
Introducing Alan White, programme manager
Alan White holds a children's youth football coaching licence with the Scottish Football Association and brings extensive experience to this new post.
He has worked with the Scottish Football Association during the last seven years, during which he worked in partnership with The City of Edinburgh Council and Heart of Midlothian Football Club.
Alan has specialised in the development of young footballers in the 13-16 age group working at participation and looking at ways of developing club approaches to the development of young footballers.
Alan also holds a higher national diploma in sports coaching and has extensive business experience having managed his own personal fitness company.
