Tag: dormant bank accounts

Young Scots to benefit from £3.5 million in Young Start funding

A wide range of projects supporting young people across Scotland to develop their natural talents and make lasting connections within their local communities, are today sharing in £3,518,157 from Young Start.

Young Start funding, delivered by The National Lottery Community Fund, awards money from dormant bank accounts to projects that help young people reach their full potential.      

Young Start Table of Awards April 2025.pdf

Music youth charity Loud n Proud has been around for over twenty years, actively seeking out local young people, who might want to get involved in the music business.

Now, thanks to funding of £94,600 they will be able to run a community–based, performance event management training programme for young people from the Renfrewshire area.

Ethan Livingstone, 22 from Johnstone is one of the group’s oldest members and is more than happy to mentor young people who are new to the organisation. His day job, working in IT couldn’t be more different to his passion for playing the drums.

He said: “If you want to just learn new skills you can do that, but if you want it to be more social, it can be. I would say to anybody thinking about coming along, not to be nervous and just go for it. You’ll get the chance to learn new things and it’s fun.”

Tommy McGrory, Founder, Loud n Proud, explained: “Wherever possible we try to operate an open door policy because we understand that young people often have a lot going on in their lives, outside of the time they spend here and they can’t always commit to the same time every week or any kind of rigid structure.

“Thanks to the Young Start funding, our young people will not only learn practical skills but also skills related to the music business like putting on events. Even if they decide not to pursue this as a career, the skills they learn can be transferred to lots of different types of work.”

Another organisation working hard to engage with and support young people to develop their passion is Scottish Athletics.

An award of £60,310 means they can now employ a part-time Digital Content Creator and Marketing Officer to work closely with their Athletics Trust Scotland Young People’s Forum (ATS YPF).  The ATS YPF is a voluntary group led by Scottish Athletics to give young people a voice in sport.

Working closely with the Forum to create engaging digital content and resources and promote them on platforms like – Tik-Tok, the new role will help the group reach a wider audience and increase awareness of topics affecting young people in sport, including athlete health, inclusion and retention of young people in sport. 

Scottish Athletics CEO, Colin Hutchison, said: “We are delighted to have received funding from the Young Start Fund to support the work of our Young People’s Forum.

“This will have a significant impact on the lives of young people in our sport and allow us to reach a wider, younger audience which will help -our young people meet their full potential through physical activity and sport.”

Announcing the funding  Kate Still, The National Lottery Community Fund, Scotland Chair said: “We are delighted to announce our latest Young Start funding, which allows us to support organisations like Loud n Proud and Scottish Athletics who are providing a safe and welcoming environment where the door is always open for young people to go and learn new skills and hone their talents.

“Through our Young Start grants we want to continue to support more projects like these which work so hard to encourage and develop the potential of young Scots.”

To find out more visit www.TNLCommunityFund.org.uk  

Young Start Table of Awards April 2025.pdf

Future young leaders to benefit from £1.4 m boost

Scottish youth projects putting young people front and centre of their work are today sharing in £1.4m from the Young Start fund. 

Amongst the 25 projects receiving the dormant account and building society cash is Youth Vision in Edinburgh which receives £76,000 to get young people outdoors taking part in educational activities that boost their physical and mental health.

Young leaders, like 21-year-old committee member, James, will support the planning and delivery of the programme while taking part in training and achieving qualifications.

James, who joined Youth Vision at the age of 13 after experiencing mental health difficulties, said: “Before I joined the project, I was severely depressed. I was having a horrendous time at school and was badly bullied. It wasn’t until much later that I got a diagnosis of Asperger’s and Autistic spectrum disorder, so for a long time I felt quite low and isolated.

“The project is special because it gave me something to put my focus into – I was already quite an outdoorsy person, but the one to one support and skills I learned such as, chopping wood, starting fires, tool safety and gardening, were great things for me to get started with.”

Now on the committee, James attributes much of his personal and career development to the project. He said, “I would never have seen myself as a leader before joining and I certainly would not have seen myself teaching people new skills – let alone enjoying it! It’s important for young voices to heard so we are very excited about this funding.”

Wester Hailes-based About Youth have received £75.000. The group will use the funding to run a programme of youth work activities for young people aged 8-19 living in The Calders area.

This will include three weekly youth groups, holiday activity programmes, outreach projects, training opportunities, and one to one support. The
project will benefit 290 young people and involve 9 volunteers over 3 years.

Also welcoming their Young Start grant today is Sports Futures Trust who will use an award of £76,995 to deliver a youth-led health and wellbeing community programme, for vulnerable children living in the north east of Glasgow.

Led by a team of Young Leaders, this will include physical activities and training opportunities, coupled with nutritional and wellbeing advice for young people and their families.

Welcoming the funding, Project Lead, Jim Boyd, said: “SSF are delighted to receive the Young Start funding for the next two years.  The investment means we can support children and young people to make positive changes in their physical, mental and emotional wellbeing while building better connections with their local community.”

Young Start is delivered by The National Lottery Community Fund and awards dormant bank and building society cash to projects led by and for young people, to help build their confidence and reach their potential.

Announcing the funding, The National Lottery Community Fund Scotland Director, Neil Ritch, said: “I am very pleased to announce this funding, which will help children and young people to have their voices heard while growing in confidence and develop new skills. 

“The Young Start programme creates opportunities for children and young people to achieve their potential and every one of these projects reflects that aim.”

Groups wanting to know more about Young Start should visit https://www.tnlcommunityfund.org.uk/funding/programmes/young-start or contact 0300 123 7110.