Athena Glasgow Secures £7,500 Grant to Support Girls' Football and Youth Development

Club Development Solutions helps North Glasgow charity go from concept to funded organisation

We're delighted to share that Athena Glasgow Women and Girls Football Academy has been awarded £7,500 from the Community Grants Programme, supported by players of People's Postcode Lottery — funding that will support the delivery of their flagship Athena Youth Experience Programme.

This is the latest milestone in what has been a remarkable first year for the Springburn-based charity, and one that Club Development Solutions has been proud to support from the very beginning.

From Idea to Incorporated Charity

When the founders of Athena Glasgow came to us, they had a clear vision: to create a football academy for girls and young women aged 10–18 in North Glasgow that went beyond sport, combining coaching with personal development, life skills, healthy eating, and financial education.

Our first task was to help them turn that vision into a properly constituted organisation. We supported Athena Glasgow through the process of incorporating as a Scottish Charitable Incorporated Organisation (SCIO), registered with OSCR (charity number SC053419). Choosing the SCIO structure gave the organisation the legal protections and credibility it needed to attract funding, enter into contracts, and operate with confidence.

• Staying Compliant with OSCR

  Charitable status brings ongoing responsibilities, and we support Athena Glasgow in meeting them. Each year we prepare and submit their annual return to OSCR, ensuring the charity remains compliant and in good standing with the regulator. For a small organisation run by volunteers, having that support in place means trustees can focus on delivering for young people rather than navigating regulatory requirements.

  
  

• Maximising Every Pound Through Gift Aid

  With charitable status secured, we also worked with the organisation to register with HMRC for Gift Aid. This means Athena Glasgow can now reclaim 25p for every £1 donated by eligible UK taxpayers and claim Gift Aid on a portion of their membership fees too. For a young charity operating in one of Scotland's most deprived communities, the ability to stretch every pound of income matters enormously.

• Opening Up New Ways to Give

  We registered Athena Glasgow with JustGiving, giving them a professional, trusted platform through which supporters can donate and fundraise on their behalf, with Gift Aid applied automatically. Alongside this, we secured their registration with Google for Nonprofits, unlocking access to a suite of tools including Google Workspace and, critically, the Google Ad Grant which provides up to $10,000 per month in free search advertising. Together, these registrations help Athena Glasgow reach more supporters, raise more money, and present themselves with the credibility that funders and donors expect.

• A Website to Tell Their Story

  We also built Athena Glasgow a dedicated website, giving the charity a professional online presence to showcase their work, attract new participants, and engage potential supporters and funders. For a young organisation in a competitive funding landscape, a well-designed website is far more than a digital brochure. It demonstrates organisational credibility, provides funders with confidence, and creates a home for the charity's story to be told on its own terms. The site continues to evolve alongside the charity as they grow.

  
  

• Building a Grant Funding Portfolio

  With the foundations in place, we got to work on funding. Since October 2024, Club Development Solutions has supported Athena Glasgow to secure £11,660 in grant income from a range of funders, a portfolio that has grown steadily with each successful award.

  
  

The numbers tell their own story. Over 19 months of engagement, Athena Glasgow has received over £6 in grant income for every £1 spent on our services, a rate of return that reflects both the quality of the organisation and the strength of the case we've been able to build on their behalf.

Each application has been tailored to the funder's priorities while consistently highlighting what makes Athena Glasgow's work distinctive: the depth of need in Springburn, the ambition of the Athena Youth Experience Programme, and the quality of an organisation that, despite being less than two years old, already has independently examined accounts, a strong board, and a growing track record of delivery.

What the Funding Delivers

The £7,500 from the Community Grants Programme will go directly towards the Athena Youth Experience Programme, providing girls aged 10–18 in North Glasgow with access to football coaching, mentoring, and personal development activities. The programme is designed to build confidence, improve wellbeing, and equip young women with skills that extend well beyond the pitch, particularly important in an area where over 46% of children live in poverty.

A Strong Platform for the Future

Athena Glasgow is now in a strong position for an organisation barely two years into its journey, with charitable status, Gift Aid registration, OSCR compliance support, independently examined accounts, and a growing portfolio of funders behind them.

We're proud to have played a role in building that platform, and we look forward to continuing to support them as they grow.

Interested in what Club Development Solutions could do for your organisation? Get in touch by emailing andrew@clubdevelopmentsolutions.com