Tag: Cashback for Communities

CashBack projects support thousands of young people

A programme funded from the seized assets of criminals has supported 15,368 young people in 2023-24.

CashBack for Communities delivered £5.5 million to 29 partners in that period for projects that divert young people away from anti-social behaviour and crime.

A report into the first year of the programme’s three-year funding phase, which runs from April 2023 to March 2026, showed that after taking part in CashBack for Communities projects:

  • 7,440 young people reported positive changes in their behaviour
  • 4,318 young people reported that their anti-social or criminal behaviour reduced
  • 6,292 young people felt less likely to engage in anti-social or criminal behaviour
  • 4,954 young people gained an accreditation in furthering their development
  • 8,348 young people reported an increase in their wellbeing
  • 64,240 volunteering hours were contributed

Victims and Community Safety Minister Siobhian Brown met with some participants who have been taking part in Scottish Rugby Union’s CashBack Community Rugby at Castlebrae Community Campus in Edinburgh.

The SRU’s programme works with young people most at risk of being drawn into offending or being involved in anti-social behaviour to help them resist pressure to take part in it.

Ms Brown said: “Supporting and encouraging young people to make informed choices is crucial for their personal growth and future success. The CashBack for Communities Impact Report highlights the positive contribution the programme has had on over 15,000 young people. 

“CashBack is an early intervention programme and its partners provide a range of support and activities which includes providing safe spaces, trusted adults they can speak with and a range of diversionary and support activities.

“Young people need our support and encouragement to make choices that allow them to develop their aspirations and potential, and we should rightly be proud of them and this programme.

“I had the opportunity today to see exactly how CashBack partners like Scottish Rugby Union work alongside young people to develop their understanding of the positive impact they can have on their communities.”

CashBack for Communities Impact Report 2023-24

More information on the CashBack for Communities programme.

CashBack supports 28,000 young people over last year

Criminals’ ill-gotten gains re-directed to support young people to make positive choices 

A unique programme funded from seized criminal assets has helped to provide new opportunities for more than 28,000 young people in the past year.

CashBack for Communities used £19 million recovered from criminal activity to support 24 organisations during Phase 5 of the programme, which ran from April 2020 to March 2023, to support young people, including those who may be at risk from being drawn into antisocial behaviour or criminality.

Projects supported included the Vow Project, run in partnership with Police Scotland, which uses peer mentors with experience of the criminal justice system to support young people to break the cycle of criminality and offending.

The Access to Industry project, which provides employability support to young people in HM Prison and Young Offenders Institution (YOI) Polmont, and Action for Children who support young people at risk of involvement in offending or antisocial behaviour, were also supported through CashBack.

A new evaluation of activity support in 2022-23, has found that of the young people who took part in projects:

  • 75% reported an improvement in their wellbeing
  • 75% reported an increase in their confidence
  • 59% gained new jobs, skills or qualifications

Since its inception, Cashback for Communities has committed up to £130 million to fund a range of projects, delivering more than 2.5 million activities and supporting around 1.3 million young people across Scotland.

Community Justice Minister Siobhian Brown said: “The success of the Cashback for Communities projects show what can be achieved when young people are given the right opportunities.

“It is important that we support and encourage young people to make choices that allow them to develop their aspirations and potential.

“CashBack for Communities is a valued programme that everyone involved should be rightly proud of.  I am grateful to all those who have helped to make the past three years such a success, and supported so many young people in such a positive way, particularly in a period impacted by COVID-19.

“For the past 15 years, Cashback has helped well over a million  young people across the country to find better futures.

“This unique initiative underlines our commitment to support all of Scotland’s young people to live full, healthy lives and to help address some of the underlying causes of crime and antisocial behaviour.”

Read the impact report 

22-23 Impact ReportDownload

£20 million Cashback for Communities

More than £130 million from proceeds of crime invested to support young people to date

Projects supporting young people are to receive up to a total of £20 million of funding recovered from the proceeds of crime.

The funding, which reinvests criminal assets recovered through the Proceeds of Crime Act, aims to provide support to young people at risk of entering the criminal justice system and communities impacted by crime.

A total of 29 organisations are to benefit from the sixth round of the CashBack for Communities programme.

They include GMAC Film, who support young people to kickstart a career in film-making as well as the Venture Trust and Aberlour Child Care Trust who both support young people with employment and other opportunities.

The programme holds a particular relevance to GMAC Film’s Chair of the Board, Kieran Howe, who took part in an early CashBack programme with GMAC 10 years ago. This experience played a significant role in his personal development and helped kickstart his career in filmmaking.

Kieran Howe, said: “It’s rare in life that we experience these kinds of full-circle moments. CashBack quite literally changed my life as a teenager, putting me on a path for a successful career in film-making.

“Being able to return to GMAC all these years later, and assist the team in delivering this programme as Chair, fills me with tremendous joy, and hope for the future of Scottish film-making talent.”

Justice Secretary Keith Brown said: “To provide the best chances for their future, we should nurture all young people to fulfil their potential – through interventions which help reduce the risk of offending and that encourage positive behaviour.

“For the past 15 years, Cashback has helped millions of young people across Scotland to find better futures and reach their full potential and we know from first-hand experience the transformational impact the programme has had on young people’s lives.

“This phase of CashBack received more than 150 applications – the most ever – and our latest round of funding takes total investment in the programme to more than £130 million. This fund underlies our commitment to support young people to live full, healthy lives and help address some of the underlying causes of crime.”

Phase 6 of the CashBack for Communities programme will run from 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2026 with an increased overall programme budget of up to £20 million.

Organisations to benefit from the latest CashBack funding will be:

OrganisationGrant Award
*Aberlour Child Care Trust£480,000
Access to Industry£547,781
Action for Children£645,695
*Avenue Confidential£311,184
Barnardo’s£1,010,623
basketballscotland Limited£475,000
Bethany Christian Trust£264,658
Celtic FC Foundation£675,000
Cyrenians£805,017
*Edinburgh Young Carers£218,128
*Glasgow Media Access Centre Ltd£241,515
Impact Arts (Projects) Ltd£569,500
Mayfield and Easthouses Youth 2000 Project£284,543
Ocean Youth Trust Scotland£475,000
Police Service of Scotland£298,154
Rangers Charity Foundation SCIO£379,000
*RUTS£423,474
Scottish Football Association£1,570,000
Scottish Professional Football League Trust£624,507
Scottish Rugby Union£1,590,000
Scottish Sports Futures£1,451,077
Scottish Youth Dance£396,904
*Starcatchers Productions Ltd£245,538
Station House Media Unit£348,210
*Strengthening Communities for Race Equality Scotland –£207,810
*The Larder West Lothian£488,627
The National Autistic Society£675,000
*The Venture Trust£475,000
Youth Scotland£1,765,000

*new for Phase 6

Details on individual projects are being published on the CashBack for Communities website.

Paying the Price: £20 million in crime proceeds to fund community projects

Latest round of Cashback for Communities funding opens

Community projects are set to receive up to £20 million over the next three years to continue supporting young people and communities most affected by crime.

Since the programme began in 2008, Cashback for Communities has taken funds recovered through the Proceeds of Crime Act and provided crucial support to around 1.3 million young people across all local authorities.

Cashback has funded a wide variety of projects over the past 14 years including sports, arts, youth work and employability which provide extensive opportunities to raise the ambition and aspirations of young people.

The latest phase of funding will guide those most at risk of being impacted by crime, to more positive destinations while also helping young people to improve their physical and mental health.

Justice Secretary Keith Brown said: “Young people growing up in Scotland deserve to have an equal chance of success, no matter their background or circumstances and CashBack plays an important role in providing young people with the tools they need to reach their full potential.

“The valuable feedback from young people who have benefitted from the programme helped inform this latest round of funding.  Participants reported that improving their mental health and wellbeing was a key priority for them due to the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, which also links to our Vision for Justice in Scotland.

“This funding of up to £20 million will deliver a range of activities for young people between the ages of 10-25 and boosts the total funding made available to almost £130 million since the Programme began in 2008.”

Applications for Phase 6 funding now open

Cashback for Communities

Cyrenians’ Keeping Families Together project advisory board holds first meeting

Cyrenians Keeping Families Together with Cashback for Communities project works alongside Scotland’s secure centres to support children to escape the cycle of homelessness and residential care. The first cross-sector advisory board meeting was held yesterday.  

The Promise Scotland, published in February 2020, is responsible for driving the work of change demanded by the findings of the Independent Care Review and sets out an ambition for Scotland ‘to be the best place in the world to grow up’ so that children are ‘loved, safe and respected, able to realise their full potential’. 

However, at any one time in Scotland, up to 84 children can be in secure accommodation. The aim of such secure care centres is ‘to provide intensive support and safe boundaries to help these highly vulnerable children re-engage and move forward positively in their communities’. 

Yesterday, experts from across the sector, including Cyrenians, The Centre for Youth and Criminal Justice, Scottish Government, Aid and Abet, Police Scotland Violence Reduction Unit, University of Strathclyde, East Lothian Council, the Care Inspectorate and Good Shepherd Centre joined the first ever Keeping Families Together Advisory Board meeting to share best practice and ensure whole family support for those currently residing in Scotland’s secure centres, to help #KeepThePromise. 

The focus of the ‘Keeping Families Together’ Project is to support children and their families to rebuild relationships and return to the family home where possible.

Family contact has been highlighted as a specific area where more attention is needed for those in secure care and without support, the issues affecting families and children – whether the impact of earlier ACEs (adverse childhood experiences), low income and related stresses – can be left unchecked.

Communication can break down, and relationships can fracture, with devastating consequences for the child and the wider community.  

Kerry Watson, Service Manager at Cyrenians, said “At what can only be an enormously stressful and difficult period in a child’s life, it is only right that both the child and the rest of the family receive the support they need to maintain those relationships, and for the child, where possible, to return home with a positive route forward. 

“Bringing together experts from across the sector ensures that we are able to provide whole family support, meaning that any decisions made are in the best interest of the child, including returning home.”  

Dr Cara Jardine Chair of Keeping Families Together Advisory Group added: “The past year has added additional pressures with COVID impacting on family’s ability to visit and stay connected.

“It is imperative that as restrictions ease we focus on providing meaningful support that ensures the rights of the children we support are upheld and advocated for. By putting the child’s needs at the centre of any decision making process we will be able to break the cycle of inter-generational trauma, homelessness and disadvantage, ensuring more positive outcomes for all.”  

To find out more about Keeping Families Together, visit www.cyrenians.scot 

Aid & Abet: The VOW project

City police are looking forward to working with CashBack for Communities who will be funding their VOW project from April 2021.

The VOW Project is a funded initiative which aims to reduce offending and harm to people in Edinburgh. This is done by building positive relationships with those caught up in the cycle of offending and building a bespoke service for each person, to meet their individual needs.

The project is unique in that, in addition to plain clothes police officers, it makes use of inspirational peer mentors who have lived experience of the Criminal Justice System.

The team engage with and empower young people (aged 16-24 years) to break the cycle of re-offending and to pick up their shattered lives, by assisting them to make positive decisions and changes to their lives.

By having an open and frank conversation with the individual about their life, actions and choices, there is a much greater chance to break down barriers between the offender and the police and this greatly increases the possibility that the person will engage with the project and work towards reducing and hopefully ceasing their offending.

The peer mentors carry out initial interactions using their own life-experience and decide if the young persons are ready engage and to take the next step in moving away from their harm inducing behaviour.

Existing strengths, are gradually brought out, through the peer mentors building a rapport and a positive relationship with the young person in a safe environment. They are then assisted in making positive choices and together, a plan of action is established around support, resilience building, signposting to partners, training and in some cases employment.

The ultimate aim of the project is for the young person to be assisted in moving forward with their lives in a positive manner.

The VOW Project also deliver presentations within educational settings,to local youth groups, Care Experienced Young People and statutory and third sector partners, where they to talk about positive lifestyle choices and resilience.

Pictured: PC Graeme Buchan & Peer Mentor Kevin Neary

#CB4C

#ABetterTomorrow

CashBack support for Police youth projects

A police-led partnership initiative aimed at diverting young people from criminal activity in Edinburgh is to receive Scottish Government funding.

As part of the CashBack for Communities Scheme, £19 million, which was seized from criminals, is to be shared with a range of organisations to further their work in diverting at risk youths away from potentially criminal or anti-social behaviour.

One such project receiving a share of this funding is VOW, a unique collaborative project, where police in the Capital work along a number of partners to engage and empower vulnerable young-people to make positive life choices.

This partnership helps break the cycle of offending and prevent individuals from continually entering the criminal justice system. So far 167 young people have been helped through the work of the team and the funding will ensure this vital work continues and even expands.

Also receiving Cashback support is Police Scotland’s award- winning partnership project with City of Edinburgh Council, Turn Your Life Around (TYLA).

Turn Your Life Around is a mental health and wellbeing project where local volunteers with a range of difficult childhood experiences are supported to share their stories of adversity and resilience with school pupils, families and staff.

Pupils at the schools are then given a platform to discuss the stories, reflect on risk and resilience factors and encouraged to seek help if they are experiencing similar difficulties.

The nature of these projects means that officers, peer mentors and volunteers are regularly asked to revisit, share or support childhood trauma and this funding will be used to provide trauma counselling and additional support for all those involved in delivering these services and will augment the existing skills they already have.

This in turn will increase the capacity for them to help young people turn their lives around.

Chief Superintendent Sean Scott, Divisional Commander for Edinburgh said: “This partnership and public health approach, using these inspirational peer mentors and courageous young volunteers, was a first of its kind here in Scotland.

“The proof that it works is testament to the number of young people that have managed to turn their lives around and the fact that on average the young people who engage with the peer mentors and officers manage to reduce their offending by around 80%.

“Traditionally, it has been difficult for police to identify and engage with at risk youths while working in isolation. This collaboration opens a number of doors, not only in preventing further criminal activity, but signposting those we engage with to a range of support services that can help them make positive lifestyle choices.

“With this essential funding, the excellent foundations and work that has already been commenced, will be continued and expanded to include trauma counselling, with the model being rolled out in Glasgow and other Policing Divisions looking to follow suit.

“This peer mentoring project transforms not only the lives of the young people who engage and take part, but transforms their families and communities, through working in partnership to deliver prevention and interventions that have been evaluated and proved to work at reducing harm”

Councillor Ian Perry, Education, Community and Families Convener at City of Edinburgh Council said: “This funding is fantastic news and will help the programmes continue to go from strength to strength.

“Set up in 2016 with Police Scotland, the Turn Your Life Around project delivered by the Health & Wellbeing Team was recently recognised as Education Initiative of the Year by Herald Society Awards.

“This is testimony to the feedback received from over 1000 children, young people and staff in schools last year who heard the inspiring stories from the TYLA volunteers and were involved in follow up sessions.

“It is of paramount importance that the volunteers are also appropriately supported and this funding will ensure we can continue to provide this as the project continues.”

CashBack’s Jamie the Unicorn sets off on his travels

Every year, YouthLink Scotland, the national agency for youth work, run a campaign to promote the CashBack for Communities Youth Work Fund and to highlight the amazing work of the funded projects.

This year, the CashBack for Communities Youth Work fund has awarded £778,595.00 to 194 projects – benefiting 14,486 young people in Scotland. Continue reading CashBack’s Jamie the Unicorn sets off on his travels

National Art Treasure Hunt launched – with a twist!

This year as part of our campaign to raise awareness of Cashback for Communities and how creative young Scots are, projects from all over Scotland are inviting the public to get involved in a journey of artistic discovery and to share their finds through selfies on social media.

Artwork or installations created by young people will be left in popular places in local communities across Scotland for people to discover.  Want to become an art sleuth?

You can find out more about the campaign on www.youthlinkscotland.org/CashBackCreates

Each item will have a tag attached to it explaining about CashBack funding and encouraging people to share their find on social media using #CashBackCreates.

We hope this will raise awareness of so many creative projects, and encourage other young people to get involved and create excitement about what’s going on in their local area. This guerrilla marketing style campaign has been launched today and will continue until the end of July.

So what kind of things might you be looking for? Here are some of the projects involved:

Indepen-dance create inclusive, fun and engaging workshops for young people no matter what their ability. What’s a dance without props? So for #CashBackCreates young people will be writing words they associate with the project on scarves and ribbons and they will be hung around Eastbank Academy and Newhills School in Glasgow.

Always wondered where fairies live? Wonder no more! Young people in Falkland are creating a range of fairy doors to be left in the local woods (above); this project helps to teach young people a range of artistic skills like woodwork and painting.

Spot a newspaper in the local community at Wester Hailes in Edinburgh, it might not be as it seems. Young people are creating a mock up edition of the local paper, sharing information about their project and the young people involved.

If you are in Dumfries and Galloway, keep an eye out for handmade bracelets, created by autistic young people, each bracelet spells a positive word to give you the feel good factor! Every bracelet will include a handmade bead with the logo of the project.

Passing through Galashiels Interchange? Keep an eye out for a colourful guitar sculpture, it will be playing music created by young people so you won’t be able to miss it!

In Campbeltown, young people will be creating decorative rocks and leaving them in the community for people to discover (above). Will you be one of the lucky people to discover a rock? Added bonus, discoverers who tweet their find will be entered into a competition to win cinema tickets & popcorn!

What’s Doricula we hear you ask? It’s Dracula with a Doric twist, of course! This project will see young people create a brand new show all about the history of Aberdeenshire. And they want to share their creation with the community. Look out for spooky snaps of doricula all around Peterhead with invitations to their end of season show!

The CashBack for Creativity Open Fund, administered by YouthLink Scotland through delivery partner, Creative Scotland and funded by Scottish Government has awarded a total of £324,000 to 45 community-based arts project across the country, which will reach over 4,927 young people in local communities.

The fund offers a fantastic chance for young people to access a range of high-quality arts, screen and creative industries activities. The programme targets children and young people in communities and areas where there is currently a lack of opportunity.

CashBack for Communities is a unique Scottish Government programme which takes money seized from criminals under the proceeds of crime legislation and invests them in our future – our young people.  Since 2008, £110 million has been committed to community initiatives to improve the quality of life of young people right across Scotland.

Jane Dailly, National Programmes Manager at YouthLink Scotland, The National Agency for Youth Work, said: “We know that young people are creating and involved with imaginative and fun projects and we would like to raise awareness of that across the country. 

“What better way to make someone else’s day and put a smile on their face than through the discovery of an awesome piece of locally created work.”

Cabinet Secretary for Justice, Humza Yousaf said: “This campaign is a great way to get communities involved in the creative arts and today’s investment further demonstrates the Scottish Government’s commitment to building a stronger, fairer and more inclusive society.

“Our Investment in the Cashback for Communities Programme has helped young people learn new skills, boost their confidence and reach their full potential in life.”

Laura Black, Arts Officer, CashBack for Creativity, Creative Scotland, commented: “The inspiring projects announced today through the CashBack for Creativity Open Fund are opening up access to a huge range of innovative and exciting projects for young people across Scotland. 

“With today’s launch of #CashBackCreates, we’re looking forward to sharing and bringing to life young people’s creative endeavours across the country.”