Big Lottery Fund helps young Scots reach their potential

25 Jan 2017 10:53 AM

Projects helping young Scots take greater control of their futures yesterday (January 24, 2017) shared in £847,397 of dormant banks and building society cash from the Young Start Fund, run by the Big Lottery Fund. See a full list of awards Amongst the 19 successful projects, Edinburgh based charity, Upward Mobility Ltd provides a range of training and work experience opportunities for young people with learning disabilities and autism across Edinburgh and the Lothians. An award of £46,284 means they will be able to extend their successful “YoYo Café” project meaning the youngsters will be supported to run their own professional café service five days a week.

Josh Barton, CEO, Upward Mobility Ltd, said, “We are delighted to be awarded this Young Start grant.  The YoYo Café pilot has been a real success and the students have become much more confident as a result. They have really enjoyed working as a team and creating delicious food. On the two days a week the café currently runs there’s a real sense of energy and excitement and it’s great to know we now have the resources to open for five days a week now.

“It’s fantastic to have this chance to make even more opportunities for learning and training available so thanks to everyone at Young Start for making this possible.”

Simon Walker, Senior Team Leader, Upward Mobility Ltd, said, “Through this process I have seen the students grow in confidence, work together as a team and build good relationships.  They have also developed their communication, numeracy and social skills through their daily working routine and have become more independent and confident when faced with new challenges.

“This funding will also allow us to start doing table service and hopefully a trolley service what means we can open up the café to all the tenants in the building where we are based. It’s a really exciting time for the YoYo Café and we look forward to seeing how the students progress.”

In North Lanarkshire different generations will work as a team, sharing skills and knowledge as they learn more about where they live thanks to an award of £48,836 to Getting Better Together Ltd. The specially designed project will bring young and old together to tell the story of the area through a mixture of art, audio and photography.

June Vallance, Executive Manager, Getting Better Together, said, “We were absolutely delighted to receive notification that our Young Start application was successful. The funding will allow us to develop a new and exciting intergenerational project where different generations come together to look at the history of the Shotts area.

It’s also an opportunity for young and older people to learn new skills as they use different art and media forms to record this. The younger generation can learn about the history of where they live and older generations can learn new skills through media and IT. We are so looking forward to developing this project and getting started.”

Maureen McGinn, Big Lottery Fund Scotland Chair, said, “With this funding, children and young people across Scotland will be able to unlock their talents through a wide range of activities.  These are designed to engage and inspire them to follow their dreams while also building skills and confidence for the future. The Young Start programme creates opportunities for children and young people to achieve their potential and every one of these projects reflects that aim.”

Run by the Big Lottery Fund Scotland, Young Start awards money from dormant bank and building society accounts to support a range of projects to help young people aged eight to 24 years old reach their full potential. These latest nineteen awards to groups will allow young people across Scotland to access a wide range of new opportunities.

For more information about Young Start visit the website at:-
https://www.biglotteryfund.org.uk/global-content/programmes/scotland/young-start

Big Lottery Fund Press Office: 0141 242 1451
Email: lorna.mcniven@biglotteryfund.org.uk
Website: www.biglotteryfund.org.uk
Twitter: @BIGScotland #biglottery
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 £8 billion to projects that change the lives of millions of people. Every year we fund 13,000 small local projects tackling big social problems like poor mental health and homelessness.
• Since the National Lottery began in 1994, £34 billion has been raised and more than 450,000 grants awarded.
• The Big Lottery Fund Scotland is focussed on helping people and communities most in need throughout Scotland through its five-year £250m funding scheme as well as small grants schemes Awards for All and Investing in Ideas.
• Since March 2007 Big Lottery Fund Scotland has taken devolved decisions on Lottery spending, the Committee, led by Chair, Maureen McGinn plays a strategic role in the future direction of the Fund in Scotland.