Project: Craigsfarm Fairer Futures
Charity/partner name: West Lothian Council & Craigsfarm Community Hub
Location: West Lothian (Craigshill)
CBF amount secured: £10,000
About the project
Craigsfarm is a registered charity located within the heart of Craigshill, one of West Lothian’s most deprived areas. The Charity provides a safe, caring and supportive space for Craigshill and wider West Lothian community to build connections, learn and share and enhance mental wellbeing.
Established in 1967, the Craigsfarm community hub was formed just two years after Craigshill was built. It remains a historic piece of the major development programme that formed the new town of Livingston and led to the very first community asset transfer for West Lothian Council.
As Craigshill has grown, so too have the pressures on its residents, with food poverty, isolation, and mental health becoming increasingly prevalent. The area has one of the highest mental health need in West Lothian. Craigsfarm remains deeply embedded in the fabric of the community, actively shifting its services to tackle these modern challenges head-on through targeted and agile mental wellbeing programmes and local support networks.
The hub offers a vibrant space dedicated to improving mental wellbeing, reducing isolation, and building resilience. Open seven days a week, the wider hub provides over ten programmes which include everything from art for wellbeing and meditation to counselling and bereavement support, all tailored to individual requirements, whilst the community café offers a warm spot to meet up and connect.
Creating social value in Craigshill
According to NHS Research Scotland, one in four individuals in Scotland is facing mental health challenges every year. To help tackle these inequalities, Craigsfarm offer a host of early, preventative support.
Their community wellbeing and resilience programme prioritises individual wellbeing by building a proactive support network for common challenges that can impact an individual's mental health, from bereavement and financial hardship to social isolation and trauma.
Each activity is guided by its "Theory of Change" mechanism that empowers attendees to engage in self-appraised support to shape their resilience and define the best therapy to aid their journey to mental wellbeing. This is achieved through a comprehensive calendar of activities, including specialised support groups, yoga for health and wellbeing, and outdoor therapies such as forest bathing.
Research has shown that when this structured intervention isn’t available, facing these challenges alone can often lead to a cycle of crisis, increasing the risk of poverty and homelessness.
The challenge
With the Scottish Government proposing a £20 million reduction in mental health spending for 2025/26, the gap between demand and available support is widening. Community-led support like Craigsfarm’s programme is more essential than ever. However, the lack of funding left the hub at risk of reducing its workshops and qualified support that are key to providing their community with free essential services
The £10,000 award from the SPA Community Benefit Fund was vital to secure the future of Craigsfarm’s wellbeing and resilience programme, which supports over 500 people. This programme has been operating for the last four years and is delivered by a small, caring and qualified team.
The scarcity and limited availability of grant funding schemes are becoming a major concern for charities like Craigsfarm, which rely on access to funding to maintain key services and sustain employment.
How SPA supported
As an elected SPA committee partner, West Lothian Council is one of thirteen organisations that are active users of SPA’s diverse range of procurement solutions developed for the built environment.
Each of the committee partners has a deep understanding of our solutions and how they operate. This knowledge places them in a strong position to share their experiences and contribute to discussions that shape SPA’s direction and vision. The Council allocated their share of the SPA Community Benefit Fund to Craigsfarm.
The award was the deciding factor in maintaining the centre’s schedule, directly supporting the employment of a part-time mental health support worker to provide consistent, professional guidance. Craigsfarm successfully maintained all of its core community events, providing uninterrupted support to the individuals who need them most.
Losing such a critical resource would have been detrimental to the area and seeing the tangible, positive effect of this intervention is genuinely inspiring.
In 2024, we launched our first 3-year Social Value Strategy, formalising our commitment to Scottish communities by growing our social value and community benefit impact through collaboration with our charity partner, Lintel Trust.
This project stands as a testament to one of our core priority areas; enhancing individual wellbeing through fostering a more connected community, addressing local needs, and promoting healthier, happier lives across Scotland.
Since 2017, we have reinvested more than £6 million in the sector through the SPA Community Benefit Fund. Working alongside Lintel Trust, we are collectively supporting community development through targeted and considered investment aimed at revitalising communities.
To learn more about how your organisation can get a share of the funding to revitalise your local area, chat with our team.