WIREDGOV

Budding young musicians and performers from many parts of Scotland yesterday celebrated grants worth £1.1 million from the Young Start fund.

Run by the Big Lottery Fund Scotland, 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. 23 projects from across Scotland are benefiting yesterday. More details here (link to table)

Talented young musicians from across Scotland will be taking their music on the road, thanks to an award of £40,000 to the Scottish Music Centre. The young people will take part in five music tours and learning workshops each themed with a different genre of music.

Scott Kirkwood, Project Manager for Hit the Road, said “We are delighted that the Young Start grant from Big Lottery Fund will continue to support the project in 2015 and it’s fantastic news for young people throughout Scotland aged 14 to 19 years old. As a national project, it enables emerging artists to experience their first professionally managed tours whilst offering career opportunities for non-musicians who shadow our team throughout the tour and across a range of creative and technical roles including; tour/stage management, sound engineering, music video and photography.”

Heart and Sound enables young people to develop their creative talents throgh media, music and the arts. Thanks to an award of £49,998, the organization will develop its programme of music and media based activities for 300 young people from its recording studio in Dunfermline.

Steve Chalmers, Studio Manager from Heart and Sound, said: “We are so excited as this grant will provide opportunities for hundreds of young people to increase their confidence to develop new and existing skills, while being praised and encouraged in a relevant and fun environment. The many young musicians, producers, songwriters, directors,  camera crew, sound engineers and singers that engage with this project will be so grateful that they now have a safe place to learn, hang out and grow in confidence in the studio.”

Benefiting young Scots in Glasgow and South Lanarkshire, Hope Amplified receives £49,978for the Kush Music Initiative (KMI). This will provide professional training in African music and drama to young people aged between 15 and 24. From learning to play musical instruments through to music production and arrangement, the young people will work towards an HNC in African percussion.

Michael Jonathan, Project Director from Hope Amplified, said “The volunteers and the community were ecstatic when the news of the award filtered in. Kush Music Initiative as an innovative two-year programme will use the inherent power of music to inspire young people and improve their lifestyles, rebuild their confidence, and achieve new skills and qualifications that will improve their employment prospects. Helping the young people rediscover their skills and confidence through music is a priceless gift to the community.”

Announcing yesterday’s funding totalling. £1,108,853, Big Lottery Fund Scotland Chair,  Maureen McGinn, said: “Today’s funding will help to unlock the talents of thousands of young Scots. Creative projects, such as music and film production, can really inspire young people to follow their dreams while building skills and confidence for the future. The Young Start programme creates opportunities for children and young people to help them be all they can be and these projects reflect that aim.” 

A full list of Young Start awards made yesterday is available here

Big Lottery Fund Press Office: 0141 242 1451
Website: www.biglotteryfund.org.uk
Twitter: @BIGScotland #biglf 
Facebook: www.facebook.com/BigLotteryFundScotland

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.

• In the year ending 31 March 2013, 28% of total National Lottery revenue was awarded to projects. Since the National Lottery began in 1994, £31 billion has been raised and more than 400,000 grants awarded.