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Funding boost for local youth training and employment initiatives

Projects giving young Scots the skills and confidence to consider a range of potential career options have yesterday shared in £285,368 of dormant bank account funding.

Seven projects in Argyll and Bute, Edinburgh, Dundee, Falkirk, Inverclyde and West Lothian pick up funding from the Young Start programme, which is run by the Big Lottery Fund Scotland. A full list of awards in attached.

Young people across the country will try out their sea legs while gaining invauluable work experience, thanks to an award of £50,000 to the Ocean Youth TrustGoes to different website, based in Greenock.  The award means the Trust will be able to continue to run their highly successful programme which has produced its first group of graduates.

Chief Executive, Nick Fleming, said: “We are delighted to receive this award from the Young Start programme for the second time.  This award will enable us to continue to deliver our Young Leaders Development Programme (YLDP) as well as the Skippership Cadet Progamme and Volunteer Training.  The YLDP offers young people a chance to develop their leadership skills, take part in adventurous sailing and volunteer both in the community and on our boats.  The programme harnesses the enthusiasm and talent of 12 young people that have sailed with the Trust previously.  After graduating they will sail as volunteer sea staff aboard our vessels and help hundreds of more young people across Scotland.’

Since taking part in the programme, Finn Gray, 16 from East Lothian has gone on help at a sailing school as a volunteer and has recently been accepted on an Access Employment Course at Edinburgh College.   Finn, said: “The YLDP has helped me to build up confidence because after the challenge I can now do things that I was not able to do before. For example, I had not been away from home on such a long trip on my own – I now feel confident to do this again with people I haven’t met before. I learnt some leadership skills that I have been able to use at Port Edgar where I have been helping out with sailing and outward bound courses.”

Based at the iconic Falkirk Wheel, the Scottish Waterways Trust receives an award of £33,423 to run a series of outdoor training schools for 60 local young people.  Here they will learn new skills from conservation and vegetation management through to stone carving and woodwork.

Chief Executive, Karen Moore, said: “We are thrilled to receive this funding to enable us to continue our long running Green Action employability programme for unemployed young people living in the Falkirk area. 

‘Many face formidable barriers such as physical and learning disabilities, mental health issues and social anxiety.  For those young people who need our help the Green Action programme is a real lifeline, helping them to begin to turn their lives around and create a brighter future. With the support from Young Start and the Forestry Commission Scotland, we have helped over half of the young people who have completed the programme move on to find a job, a place in education or training or secure a new volunteering role.  Given the barriers they face, this is a testament to the programme and the inspirational strength the youngsters find in themselves.”

Chair of Big Lottery Fund Scotland, Maureen McGinn, said yesterday: “Today’s Young Start grants will fund a broad range of activities allowing young people to realise their potential.  This funding will help provide life changing volunteering and work experience opportunities, allowing young people to gain new skills and consider a range of possible career options. We’re delighted that, over the last three years, Young Start has been able to support so many excellent projects, creating a wealth of new health, education and social opportunities for Scotland’s young people.”

Young Start awards money from dormant bank and building society accounts to support a range of projects that help young people aged eight to 24 reach their full potential.

Big Lottery Fund Press Office: 0141 242 1451
Website: www.biglotteryfund.org.uk
Twitter: @BIGScotland #biglottery
Facebook: www.facebook.com/BigLotteryFundScotlandGoes to different website

Notes to editors

  • Dormant accounts are defined in the Dormant Bank and Building Society Accounts Act 2008 as those which have seen no customer-initiated activity for at least 15 years.  
  • In September 2011 the Scottish Government formally issued instructions to the Big Lottery Fund to distribute dormant accounts funding for the benefit of Scotland’s voluntary and community sector.
  • The Reclaim Fund Ltd. (RFL), which was established in March 2011 to receive and invest dormant account balances across the UK, transferred the first tranche of monies from dormant bank and building society accounts to BIG on 2 August 2011. Scotland will receive an 8.4% share of the total funds to be distributed.
  • The Distribution of Dormant Account Money (Apportionment) Order 2011 prescribes that Scotland will receive 8.4% of the dormant accounts money to be made available for distribution by the Big Lottery Fund under the 2008 Act. The estimated grants budget for 2014/15 is £4.8m. It should be noted that this figure is a median projection and may go up or down.
  • The Fund is committed to bringing real improvements to communities and the lives of people most in need and has been rolling out grants to health, education, environment and charitable causes across the UK. Since its inception in 2004 it has awarded close to £6bn.
  • Since the National Lottery began in 1994, £33 billion has been raised and more than 450,000 grants awarded.

 

Channel website: https://www.biglotteryfund.org.uk/

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