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Families are supported in Fairer Futures Partnerships
Families are building confidence and accessing vital support thanks to community-led activity funded through Fairer Futures Partnerships.
In October 2024, North Ayrshire Council entered into a Fairer Futures Partnership (FFP) with the Scottish Government and has received £400,000 over 2025/26 and 2026/27 to find ways of working to bring community knowledge and experience together, finding local solutions.
Through the FFP, the Council set up a team, which has been working to address child poverty alongside various community partners since 2025.
The Council’s team supports communities through partnership working to improve life for families who are experiencing – or are at risk of - child poverty in specific locations to use the learning in future to boost wellbeing for residents across the localities.
Saltcoats North East and Kilbirnie South/Longbar are two areas that were identified by partners as places where families would benefit from coordinated, additional support.
The team has utilised a portion of the Council’s Child Poverty & Early Intervention Fund (CPEIF) , which – in turn – is supporting hyper-local projects in the two communities: Community Link Up within Saltcoats North East and Beith Community Development Trust within Kilbirnie South/Longbar.
Community Link Up, based at Auchenharvie Academy in Stevenston, is making great strides towards improving life for families where people are:
- feeling isolated or lacking confidence
- looking for new activities and hoping to make new friends or
- in need of support to access services – including access to food and employability - that will boost their wellbeing.
The Community Link Up team is opening up avenues to a range of support and advice in a friendly and relaxed environment through free family activities, groups, after-school clubs and community events.
Recent activities have included group crafts, a teddy bear hunt and a Breakfast Banter session for parents and carers.
Quote: Families are at the heart of everything we do and it's really important to us that they're involved in every part of the process. Each year, we carry out a survey, speak to people and ask them about the kind of activities and support they would like. In fact, we have families who started out getting support and are now volunteers, which is great. Over the past year we have partnered with more than 160 organisations including Third Sector, the NHS, local businesses, schools, nurseries, parent councils and animal welfare organisations. People can become quite isolated and go through different challenges in life, and we are here to help by building trusted relationships.
Quote from: Carol Boyd, Community Link Up Project Manager
Feedback from people engaging with Community Link Up includes one resident saying: “Link Up is the heart of the neighbourhood – a place where families come together, support is always available and fun is guaranteed all year round. From movie nights and bouncy castle fun days to cooking classes and more, there’s something for everyone.
“It’s not just activities – it’s a support system offering real help with debt advice, benefits, and the rising cost of living. We’re lucky to have it.”
Another service user commented: “We are a family of five and since joining we have received so much support and kindness from the staff, whether it is events, support or even the Gift Giving Appeal.
“We were struggling when we first joined and although we're doing somewhat better now, we still go. I know that I can go there anytime - whether it's for assistance, information or just clarification on anything we might be dealing with, the team is always there to help.”
Beith Community Development Trust is delivering family sessions in Kilbirnie that are seeing increasing levels of engagement, with many families attending regularly. They are ensuring that residents can access available support on matters including employability, volunteering and maximising their income.
Quote: Families and community partners have been involved in the process of setting up these local activities and ways of working, and their input was invaluable when it came to deciding which support would make a real difference to the people who need it most. It is clear that families want support that is built on trusted, established, local relationships, where they can access help at a pace that feels right for them. With this in mind, the work has been designed around community-based organisations that already have strong roots within their local areas and are well placed to build meaningful, long-term relationships with families. Both Community Link Up and Beith Community Development Trust have existing knowledge of what their communities need, great relationships with families and the means to help people access support. Feedback from families has shown that there have been positive changes already and I look forward to seeing how the work develops and brings about meaningful, long-lasting change.
Quote from: Tony Gurney, Council Leader
Reducing child poverty is a key pillar in the council’s priority of transitioning to a wellbeing economy in a way that improves the quality of life for local people.
Published: 09 October 2026