Young Start awards help young Scots reach their potential

12 Mar 2015 02:49 PM

Projects offering young people the vital employment and training skills to help shape their future are today (12 MARCH) sharing in £147,044 from the latest Young Start awards. More details here.

Run by the Big Lottery Fund Scotland, the programme 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.

Based in Edinburgh, arts organisation, Out of the Blue, will be able to deliver a training project for local young people aged between 16 and 24 years old.  The award of £49,060means they will be able to expand the initiative to more young people offering them the chance to gain work experience in arts organisations across the city.

Manager, Rob Hoon, said, “Out of the Blue are delighted that the Big Lottery Fund is supporting our Creative Training Initiative through Young Start. The project will provide opportunities for education and training in a creative enterprise to young people who traditionally don't have the networks and experience to break into employment in the arts.”

Thanks to an award of £49,988, First Steps Future Training will be able to continue  to run their ‘First Steps for Work’ project which will offer youngsters in and around Glasgow the chance to take part employment programmes and gain a range of skills in the building trade from bricklaying and block work to joinery.

Training Manager, George Bruce, said, “I am absolutely delighted to announce this funding which simply would not have been possible without Young Start.  The whole ethos of the Project is to upskill young people, giving them opportunities that they may not have had access to before.  This funding means that, over a six month period, a further 28 youngsters will benefit from the programme which will help to enrich their lives for years to come.”

After an award of £47,996, The Jeely Piece Club, based in Glasgow, will be able to deliver a programme of outdoor play for children aged between eight and 12 years old in Castlemilk. Around 60 local children will be able to join in a range of activities each week from football to obstacle courses to den building.

Tracey Black, Director of Services, said, “It is fantastic news that we were successful in our application to Young Start. This funding will allow us to provide play opportunities to children all over Castlemilk through our new Community Worker.  Some areas are quite isolated so we can go into these areas and connect with the children to ensure they are getting the opportunities to experience fun and exciting play on their doorstep.”

Chair of Big Lottery Fund Scotland, Maureen McGinn, said: “Young Start helps ensure that Scotland’s next generation has the best possible start in life, so I am delighted to announce this latest funding. Today’s projects have an emphasis on outdoor play and providing transferable skills that will help young people reach their full potential. Their common aim is to increase social and employment opportunities for young Scots across the country, giving them confidence, and helping them develop bright and positive futures.”  

Big Lottery Fund Press Office: Adele Goodfellow 0141 242 1484
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 Big Lottery Fund supports the aspirations of people who want to make life better for their communities across the UK. We are responsible for giving out 40% of the money raised by the National Lottery and invest over £650 million a year in projects big and small in health, education, environment and charitable purposes.
• Since June 2004 we have awarded over £6.5billion to projects that make a difference to people and communities in need, from early years intervention to commemorative travel funding for World War Two veterans.
• Since the National Lottery began in 1994, £33 billion has been raised and more than 450,000 grants awarded.