£2.1m CashBack funding for Scotland’s youth projects
7 May 2014 12:48 PM
The Scottish
Government has announced that more than £2 million is to be invested to
create life-changing opportunities for vulnerable young people.
The CashBack for
Communities funding will be invested by national youth work agency, YouthLink
Scotland, over the next three years in projects that will empower and guide
Scotland’s young people towards a more positive future.
It is estimated
that around 25,000 young people will be able to access new opportunities in
each of the three years as a result of the new funding. This will continue the
support of the youth work that has already provided 330,000 opportunities for
young people and created a 73,000-strong army of volunteers and
workers.
Yesterday’s
announcement with Minister for Children and Young People Aileen Campbell was
made at the Green Shoots project, Edinburgh. The recently published National
Youth Work Strategy, created in partnership with YouthLink Scotland and
Education Scotland, was debated yesterday at the Scottish Parliament.
Green Shoots is a
12-week programme that gives 10 young people at risk of becoming involved in
antisocial behaviour or alcohol and drug dependency, the opportunity to take
part in community based environmental volunteering.
Ms Campbell
said:
“Youth work
is a hugely effective force for good for hundreds of thousands of people and
the perfect way to reinvest the CashBack for Communities funding. This money
will help offer activities, skills and training opportunities and, most
importantly, a place to turn for many young people facing difficulties or at a
crossroads in their lives.
“Investment
in youth work is not just the right thing to do; it is the smart thing to do. I
am lucky to have seen first-hand the difference youth projects make in giving
young people confidence to make their voice heard, seize the opportunities in
front of them and make the right decisions for themselves and their
families.”
Jim Sweeney, CEO,
YouthLink Scotland, said:
“Over the
last five years, CashBack for Communities has created a generation of local
superheroes, giving power back to young people and their communities by using
the cash seized from criminals as a force for positive change. This money has
helped young people access life-changing youth work opportunities which has
given them more optimism for the future and has proved to many young people
that they can achieve their ambitions despite difficult life
circumstances.”
Since 2007, over
£74 million of money seized through the Proceeds of Crime Act has been
put to excellent use through CashBack for Communities, funding around 1.2
million activities and opportunities for young people since 2007.
Notes To
Editors
The CashBack for
Communities programme takes the ill-gotten gains of crime, recovered through
the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002, and invests them into community programmes,
facilities and activities largely, but not exclusively, for young people at
risk of turning to crime and anti-social behaviour as a way of life. YouthLink
Scotland will receive £2.094 million over three years.
Since the
inception of the CashBack for Communities programme in 2007, over £74
million recovered under the Proceeds of Crime Act has been invested or
committed to a wide range of sporting, cultural, educational and mentoring
activities for children and young people throughout Scotland. The programme has
funded 1.2 million activities and opportunities for young people.
More information
can be found at www.cashbackforcommunities.org
The ambitions for improving the life chances of young people in Scotland, the
national youth work strategy was published on April 3, 2014. It was developed
in partnership by the Scottish Government, YouthLink Scotland and Education
Scotland and sets out the key ambitions for youth work over the next five years
to:
• Ensure Scotland is the best place to be young and grow up in
• Put young people at the heart of government policy
• Recognise the value of youth work
• Build the workforce capacity
• Measure the impact of youth work
For more
information visit http://news.scotland.gov.uk/News/Blueprint-for-youth-work-b1d.aspx