Tag: Edinburgh Development Group

Young Start funding helps bright young minds across Scotland to thrive

LOTTERY SUCCESS FOR THREE CAPITAL INITIATIVES

Projects working to improve the confidence and wellbeing of young people across Scotland are today (WEDNESDAY 5th FEBRUARY) sharing in £1,271,922 of Young Start funding this Children’s Mental Health Week. 

The funding, which comes from dormant account cash and is delivered by The National Lottery Community Fund, is used to support thousands of children and young people annually all over Scotland, many of whom face mental health and wellbeing issues. 

Three Edinburgh projects receive funding in the latest round of grants:

Big Hearts Community Trust receives almost £85,000 to support the expansion of their Welcome Through Football initiative, using football to engage young refugees, migrants and asylum seekers aged 15-24 facing trauma, hardship and social
exclusion.

Across the city in Leith, Hibernian Community Foundation also score with £95,000 to support neurodivergent young people aged 16-25 to develop essential life skills by delivering a structured programme of activities and community participation. Over the next three years 240 young people are expected to take part and supported by 40 volunteers.

Making it a hat-trick for the capital is Castlebrae-based Edinburgh Development Group, who receive £100,000 to provide a three-year project, supporting neurodiverse and disabled young people, who are working towards employability.

Founded in 2005, Lochaber Hope supports young people facing crisis periods in their lives. In recent years the charity has concentrated its efforts on a number of peer support projects and activity groups which focus on the well-being and improvement of young people’s mental health and from this the Bright Minds Project was born.

Bright Minds is a local youth initiative, created for young people and guided by a youth advisory board. The project offers events and training opportunities, as well as campaigning for changes in mental health culture and advocating for better support systems for young people.         

An award of £54,220 means they can help more young people like 24-year-old Shaun Wallace from Lochaber.

Shaun previously worked with the charity as a project assistant but left to go to college and study to be a veterinary care assistant. When he was going through a difficult time, Lochaber Hope offered him seven free counselling sessions.

Shaun Wallace Lochaber Hope

Shaun explained: “I’ve always struggled with my mental health, all the way through high school I was dealing with anxiety, depression and bi-polar disorder.

“This would, at times lead to suicidal thoughts or thoughts of self- harm and did result in an incident where I had to be taken to hospital. Thankfully I decided to seek out support and this was the beginning of me getting better and going to counselling sessions provided by Lochaber Hope. I owe so much to Lochaber hope and don’t know where I would be today, if it wasn’t for them.

“I loved giving something back by helping at events and when the chance to get involved with the Bright Minds project came up, I was more than happy to. I might be the oldest in the group, but we all have big ambitions and I’m able to offer support and advice to the younger members of the group.

“We’re only small but we’re making a big impact. Ideally, I would love a lot more people to get involved and experience the huge changes in their lives that I have.”  

Alyson Smith, Founder Manager, Lochaber Hope said: “Young Start has been a very special fund for Lochaber Hope.

“We can see how young people are better managing their mental health by building resilience and confidence, and we look forward to the events and activities they have organised that will be taking place over the coming months.”

Another organisation nurturing young people’s talent and wellbeing is  Toonspeak Young People’s Theatre. 

The north Glasgow based charity receives £100,000 to run its PROGRESS: Empowering Young People for Creative Careers project which provides a range of entry points and routes for training and employment for young people to enter the creative industries.

Jennifer Toonspeak

Jennifer Belle Baird, 25, from Glasgow, is a published writer but would never have dreamed of speaking in public before she joined Toonspeak three years ago.

Jennifer said: “I had gone through school living with anxiety and was diagnosed with generalised anxiety disorder at 14. Being part of the project I was able to get feedback in a supportive way, without criticism. It was so good for my self-confidence and helped rid me of imposter syndrome.

“There’s no pressure to perform because it’s not all about performance, they value all areas of creativity here. Being a writer can be so isolating and now I actually enjoy performing too. I’m a member of the Toonspeak performance collective, the Young Company and have even written a play for The Merchant City Festival.

“I now view myself as a working artist and hope to work in a theatre. I often think how lucky the younger people here are to have Toonspeak at their age, Hopefully I can continue being part of the organisation and my work can uplift younger people.”

Chi Nguyen, Funding Officer, Toonspeak Young People’s Theatre said: “We’re incredibly grateful for the support from Young Start.

This funding allows us to create life-changing opportunities for young people to develop skills, confidence, and networks in the creative industries. Already, PROGRESS is helping them take big steps toward their future careers, and we’re excited to see the continued impact this will have.”  

The National Lottery Community Fund, Scotland Chair, Kate Still, said: “We are so pleased to announce our latest Young Start funding, which helps enable organisations to directly support the health and wellbeing of children and young people.

“Shaun and Jennifer’s stories are two examples of the many young people who’ve benefitted from Young Start funded projects and we are always keen to support more ideas. If your group has a project that could improve the lives of young people in Scotland, then we’d love to hear from you.” 

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

See full list of projects: –  Young Start Table of Awards February 2025 (1).pdf

Lottery cash boost for Edinburgh community projects

SCRAN Academy, People Know How and Dads Rock are among six Edinburgh projects to share in £247,582 funding from The National Lottery  Community Fund announced today.

Scran Academy receives an award of £10,000 to deliver free hot meals to vulnerable people across the North of Edinburgh, working with local partners to ensure gaps in service are covered.

John Loughton, Founder and Chief Executive of Scran Academy, which is based at Fet Lor Youth Club on Crewe Road South, said:  “COVID-19 has hit our communities rapidly and created serious implications for many of our most vulnerable people. 

“Scran Academy and our partners have been able to repurpose and rapidly respond to help offer over 10,500 delivered ready meals to those elderly, frail, facing food poverty or socially isolated.

“The support from The National Lottery demonstrates a trust and understanding in us as grassroots providers to ensure no-one went hungry or alone from day one.

“In many ways agencies like ours have become not only the sole source of hot food and human contact, but like a fifth emergency service. Everyone deserves the dignity of a safe hot meal and safe human interaction; that’s we do, thousands of times every day across the city.”

There’s also £10,000 for Crewe Toll-based People Know How.

The charity will use the funding to help cover the cost of refurbishing and delivering over 200 computers to those in need of support during the coronavirus outbreak.

By refurbishing donated computers, delivering them to people’s doorsteps, and providing follow up phone support, People Know How aim to support members of the community to stay connected, find support or home-school their children.

Dads Rock  will provide a wide range of online support to 1,000 families across the city over the next six months thanks to a National Lottery award of £9,950.

Thomas Lynch, Service Manager, Dad’s Rock, said: “Every year we work in deprived areas to help dads, children and families in need of support through free playgroups, mentoring of young dads and delivering antenatal and parenting workshops.

“Thanks to this funding we have been able to respond quickly to the impact of COVID-19 and support our beneficiaries at this difficult time. We are now providing online workshops to parents, including antenatal and Raising Children with Confidence.

“We are also supporting our Young Dads online and, on the telephone, providing music tuition online and providing support to all our families through videos and social media.

 “Through these activities parents feel supported and have the tools they need to fully support their children, even in lockdown.”

Biggest award of all goes to Edinburgh Development Group (Scotland), based at Craigmillar’s Castlebrae Centre, who receive almost £198,000.

This group will use the funding over three years to develop two further care co-operatives, using learning from the model previously operated within the City of Edinburgh.

The new co-operatives will be centred around South Queensferry and will involve a community of interest (people with disabilities) and a workers co-operative which will provide a range of support.

The project will work directly with 45 people and involve at least ten volunteers.

Intercultural Youth Scotland (£10,000) and Love Learning Scotland (£10,000) were the other Edinburgh-based projects to receive funding.

Across the country 141 groups, from charities to smaller voluntary led community projects, are receiving funding raised by National Lottery players for a range of activities, many of which will help people to support each other through the COVID-19 crisis.  

Projects funded include those that will deliver emergency care packages to vulnerable Scots, those providing online and telephone support to isolated people, as well as projects that will bring people together and give hope for the future once the lockdown is over.

Announcing today’s funding, The National Lottery Community Fund’s Scotland Director, Neil Ritch, said: “In these difficult and unprecedented times, it’s heartening to see the way Scottish communities are coming together to provide each other with support.  

“These awards, made possible by National Lottery players, recognise the hugely valuable and important contribution that Scotland’s voluntary and community sector plays in boosting the health, wellbeing and morale of local people.

“Many of them have found innovative ways to keep their communities connected during the current crisis, whilst others will support people in the future when they can physically come back together to make great things happen in their community.”

Over the next six months the National Lottery Community Fund will focus its funding in Scotland on those projects that supporting organisations and communities to respond to the challenge of COVID-19.

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