WIREDGOV

16 youth led projects share £1.1 million of Young Start funding

Projects helping thousands of young Scots get the experience they need to shape a brighter future are today (WEDNESDAY 22 SEPTEMBER) sharing in £1,134,534 of Young Start funding.

Figures published earlier this year by the National Office of Statistics* showed that young people were disproportionately impacted by the 114,000 jobs lost in Scotland in 2020 due to the pandemic. The funding announced today will help young people from the Inner Hebrides to Renfrewshire gain the employability skills, knowledge, and confidence they need to enter the workplace.

Young Start, delivered by The National Lottery Community Fund, awards dormant bank account funding to projects that help young people reach their full potential. See full list of projects here.

Young people on Islay will benefit from £70,500 of funding for the MacTaggart Community Cyber Café’s ‘Inspire Young Ileachs’ project. The group will use the funding to deliver a range of employability, skills and wellbeing initiatives targeted at young people at risk of disengagement and/or exclusion over a period of three years.

Larah McKay, Manager at the MacTaggart Community Cyber Café said: “Young people are facing barriers to personal and career development all over the country, magnified by the pandemic, and possibly even more so in rural or island settings.

We recognise that in the current landscape, our young people desperately need motivational support as well as confidence building and strategies for maintaining mental health. They need reassurance that they are a vital part of their local communities.

“We’ll be working with partner employers, trainers and the wider community across the island to allow our young people the much-needed safe spaces, facilities and experiences to develop their talents and entrepreneurial ideas to their full potential.”

The New Tannahill Centre Limited receives £58,727 for a project which gives local young people the opportunity to design and deliver a range of events and services which they’ve identified as a priority and the chance to gain much-needed skills and qualifications.

Jamie Mallan, Business Transformation Manager at The New Tannahill Centre Limited said: “The pandemic has been really difficult for everyone, but particularly young people. Their education has been disrupted, their ability to socialise in person reduced and access to services that many of them depend upon, closed.

This has created a lot of stress and anxiety for young people. They’ve spent the past year worrying about their family, stressed about their education, and are now concerned they won’t get a job or miss out on college and other education opportunities.

“Funding from Young Start has come at exactly the right time for us here at the Tannahill Centre, and it will enable us to support young people from Ferguslie overcome many of these issues. We’ve recently recruited a Youth Development Worker who will support young people to shape and create new services for other young people in the community, whilst giving them the opportunity to gain the vital skills, knowledge and confidence needed in the world of work.”

Announcing today’s awards, The National Lottery Community Fund’s Scotland Chair, Kate Still, said: “Now, more than ever, it’s important to nourish and empower our young people to help them with or to find their chosen career or passion. After an incredibly disruptive 18 months I am delighted that this funding will support young people to make their own choices and take control of their lives.

“We are always keen to support projects which put Scotland’s young people at the heart of the development and running of services. If your group has an idea how you would make this happen, then we’d love to hear from you.”

Groups wanting to know more about Young Start, and how it can support them should visit

https://www.tnlcommunityfund.org.uk/youngstart

or contact 0141 846 0447.

*https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/19246452.young-workers-face-brunt-pandemic-jobs-crisis-114-000-fewer-jobs-scotland/

Notes to Editors

• Under the Dormant Bank and Building Society Accounts Act 2008, the Reclaim Fund releases funds from dormant bank accounts to the National Lottery Community Fund for distribution to good causes across the UK.
• 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.
• 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 the National Lottery Community Fund on 2 August 2011. Scotland receives 8.4% of the total funds distributed.
• The National Lottery Community Fund are the largest community funder in the UK awarding money, raised by National Lottery players, to local communities. Since June 2004, we have made over 200,000 grants and awarded over £9 billion to projects that have benefited millions of people.
• We are passionate about funding great ideas that matter to communities and make a difference to people’s lives. At the heart of everything we do is the belief that when people are in the lead, communities thrive.