Big Lottery Fund
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Latest Young Start funding helps young Scots to shine

Young people from the north to the south of Scotland are set to benefit from a range of projects that will boost their confidence and encourage creativity as the Big Lottery Fund yesterday (MON 25 JUNE) announces the latest round of grants from the Young Start fund.

Scottish groups are sharing grants totalling £723,453 from this new fund which aims to help young Scots aged 8 to 24 reach their full potential through a range of fun, educational and employability projects. The Young Start investment comes from dormant bank and building society accounts that have seen no customer-initiated activity for at least 15 years.

Announcing the awards Big Lottery Fund Scotland Director, Jackie Killeen, said: “These Young Start awards are all about bringing out the best in our young people. Every child and young person has something unique to offer that these latest projects can tap into and develop. The work funded today ranges from helping young people embrace the latest technology and discovering history to working on a feature film and having fun while learning new skills. We are delighted to be funding these projects, which will boost the confidence and nurture the growth of young Scots.”

RIG Arts receives £48,950 for a one-year Summer Film School project that will give young people the skills to work with a professional film crew and contribute to the making of a movie. Twenty young people from Inverclyde will attend workshops over 10 weeks, before spending 15 days shooting the film. The money will fund cast, crew and tutor fees, post production, workshops, equipment and materials, studio hire, catering and marketing costs.

Bridge Community Centre's one-year A Youth Driven Past project receives £21,998 to work with 40 young people who will be involved in promoting Stornoway's culture and history, using the latest technology. The young historians will archive text, video and audio to develop stimulating media that can be used by schools, organisations and individuals for education and information. The money will fund staff posts, tutor costs, IT hardware, publicity and training costs.

Oasis Youth Centre’s project Activ8 Dumfries! receives £48,192 to provide young people with a range of educational, social and recreational activities. The Youth Centre is operated by the Community Learning and Development section of Dumfries and Galloway Council. The one-year project will benefit 950 people living in Nithsdale. The grant will fund the refurbishment of a sensory room as well as equipment, a people carrier, residential costs, car hire, travel, toys and workshops.

Welcoming the awards Finance Secretary John Swinney said:"Young people across Scotland will benefit from theYoung Start Fund and it's exciting to see these grants being awarded. This investment from dormant bank accounts willcontribute to abetter future for our teenagersby helpingthem develop new skills and improving their confidence to allow them to reach their full potential.”

A full list of all of today’s successful Young Start groups. 
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Further Information

For more details contact the Big Lottery Fund Press Scotland Office
0141 242 1458
BIG advice line: 0300 123 7110 Textphone: 0845 6021 659
Full details of the Big Lottery Fund programmes and grant awards are available on the website: www.biglotteryfund.org.uk

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 Big Lottery Fund has confirmed a grants budget of £3.7m to 31 March 2012 and an indicative budget of £5.2m for 2012/13. This gives an estimated total grants budget of £8.9m to 31 March 2013.  It should be noted that the 2012/13 figure is a median projection and may go down or up.
  • The Big Lottery 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 June 2004 It also uses its expertise in grant-giving to distribute non-Lottery funding. Full details of the BIG funded programmes and grant awards in Scotland are available at www.biglotteryfund.org.uk/scotland



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