This opportunity is for anyone aged 16-30 living in the City of Edinburgh experiencing poverty, dealing with unemployment, struggling with mental ill health, feeling socially isolated, or living in challenging circumstances and is keen to make some positive changes in their life.
Venture Scotland’s Journey Programme is a free, 12 week-long personal development programme based in the outdoors.
What to expect:
Regular activity days, like canoeing, gorge-walking, coasteering, hill walking, rock climbing, orienteering, and more.
Regular skills and wellbeing sessions*.
Residential trips to a remote bothy (simple cottage) in the Borders and to our Bothy in the beautiful Glen Etive.
The opportunity to challenge yourself and make positive changes in your life, all in a supportive and non-judgemental environment.
Gain skills such as confidence, communication, teamwork, and leadership.
If you are interested and would like to know more, please see our website for more details and for our referral form: https://venturescotland.org.uk/
You can also contact Louisa who is our Outreach and Support Worker via email at louisa.selwood@venturescotland.org.uk ; on Facebook Messenger Louisa Venture Scotland; or phone/text 07535 164 285.
Supporting and scaling up responsible investment in nature
Environmental organisations, community groups, land owners and farmers will be eligible to apply for a share of £1.8 million funding to help grow their nature projects.
The Scottish Government and NatureScot, working in partnership with the National Lottery Heritage Fund, and with support from the Green Finance Institute, are launching a new programme of support to help scale up private investment in Scotland’s natural capital.
Grants of up to £240,000 will be offered to organisations and partnerships to help develop a viable business case and financial model, to attract investment in projects that can restore and improve the natural environment, such as, but not limited to, woodland creation, marine enhancement and peatland restoration. Successful projects will also demonstrate the means to engage and share benefits with communities, contributing to a just transition.
The Facility for Investment Ready Nature in Scotland programme also aims to ensure that investment in, and use of, Scotland’s natural capital creates benefits that are shared.
Minister for Environment and Land Reform Mairi McAllan said: “The Scottish Government has already significantly increased public investment in nature restoration through, for example, our £65 million Nature Restoration Fund.
“But public investment can’t do it alone. The finance gap for nature in Scotland for the next decade has been estimated to be £20 billion – that’s why we are working to find ways to bridge this finance gap through leveraging responsible private finance.
“The Facility for Investment Ready Nature in Scotland programme will enable swifter, easier and scaled up development of nature-based investable projects across the country. It has the potential to grow natural capital markets that reach across rural, urban, terrestrial and marine settings, and to support a wide variety of natural assets and ecosystem services.”
NatureScot’s Director of Green Economy Robbie Kernahan said: “Scotland’s nature is in crisis: its unique habitats and ecosystems will only continue providing the benefits to our wellbeing if we act now to value it and invest in it.
“The new Facility for Investment Ready Nature in Scotland is a vital opportunity to stimulate that investment and will help us halt nature loss – we must grasp it with both hands.”
Heritage Fund Director for Scotland Caroline Clark said: “Thanks to money raised by National Lottery players, we are delighted to support this programme which will ensure more of Scotland’s natural capital can be unlocked for the benefit of the environment and communities.
“FIRNS offers an exciting opportunity to explore ways of diversifying income for Scotland’s nature sector and building skills, capacity and resilience for the communities and organisations who are caring for the future of our natural world in a time of immense change.”
Our new programme is live & starts on Monday 22nd August 2022.
If you live in the Leith area, have at least one child under the age of 5 you can sign up to some of our fantastic groups. Dads are welcome to join us too!
Starting Monday 25th April. If you live in Leith, have at least one child under the age of 5 you can sign up to some of our fantastic groups. If you would like to know more information or sign up, please drop us an email at info@dbfc.org.uk
Our new programme is live Starting Monday 25th April. If you live in Leith, have at least one child under the age of 5 you can sign up to some of our fantastic groups.
If you would like to know more information or sign up, please drop us an email at info@dbfc.org.uk
Scouts annnounce exciting new programme for 4 and 5 year olds
We couldn’t be prouder to announce Squirrels: our new programme for 4 and 5 year olds. It’s also a historic milestone for the UK Scout movement. As the first new age range in Scouts for 35 years, we’re helping young people gain skills for life where and when it matters most.
Following two years of pilots and pioneering work in Northern Ireland, 200 Squirrel Dreys have opened in locations across the UK. We’re prioritising communities most affected by the pandemic, and supporting families and young people who’ve fallen behind.
We’re particularly proud to welcome those young people from underrepresented communities, including those who haven’t tried Scouts before.
Promoting key skills when it matters
Research from Ofsted tells us that children hardest hit by the COVID-19 pandemic are lacking basic skills and learning. We know that what happens in these critical early years, when vital connections are being made in the brain will fundamentally shape their future.
Our programme’s therefore designed to support informal learning and help 4–5 year-olds catch up. It’s about promoting key skills like working together, communication, and language, as well as creativity and community awareness.
Squirrels get active, explore nature and have fun learning with friends, all while earning badges – just like other Scouts. New badges include Feel Good, Be Active, Explore Outdoors, Brilliant Builder and Exciting Experiments.
It’s a positive, safe environment for young children to develop essential skills for life, starting them on a journey to become the active citizens and leaders of the future.
Matt Hyde, Scouts’ CEO, said: “Squirrels is part of our commitment to help young people, families and communities come back stronger from the pandemic. Our mission is to equip young people with skills for life.
“What we learn up to the age of 5 lays the building blocks for everything that follows. If you’re 4, you’ve spent a third of your life in lockdowns. That’s why we’re opening the first Squirrel Dreys in those communities that need it most.
“But to scale up this new programme, we need support from volunteers, partners, donors and MPs, to help us reach even more young people.”
To support the roll out of Squirrels, we’re now calling for adults, including parents and carers to step forward as part of our #GoodForYou campaign, designed to recruit over 5,000 new volunteers.
We’re showing adults how volunteering for Scouts not only helps young people, but is good for them too, supporting wellbeing and building skills for employment and education.
Bear Grylls, Chief Scout, is helping launch the new age range: ‘I’m so glad that younger children no2w have the chance to join our family of Scouts,’ he said, ‘and develop skills for life.
“‘We know from our pilot programme that 4–5-year-olds can really benefit from the activities that we offer. We believe that by offering opportunities at this early age, inspiring a sense of wonder, fun and curiosity, we can have a long-lasting, positive impact on young people’s lives.”
Charmaine, the mother of Alexia, a 5-year-old in an early years’ pilot group, shared the positive impact being in Scouts has had.
“Alexia has loved coming to the meetings. She’s learnt so many skills, like confidence, independence, and learning to tidy up after herself. During lockdown, she set up a tent in the living room and camped there for two nights. The socialising has also helped her. She doesn’t go to school with the children here, so it’s good for her to meet other children.”
Charmaine agrees that parents and carers get actively involved too: “If the children are making something then the parents can make something as well, so they know how to do similar activities at home.
“The leaders are very encouraging and very child focused. During lockdown they kept in touch and dropped off packs of activities for Alexia to do. The best thing coming to Scouts is the skills they learn, the discipline it gives them, and the chance to get outside, play and interact with other children.”
Alexia said: ‘I’ve been to every single meeting and I love everything. I like being outside, going to the park and playing.”
If you’d like to volunteer, find our more, or support the roll out of Squirrels, we’d love to hear from you. Join us as we start this exciting new journey, on the newest branch on Scouts’ family tree.
Our Lockdown Programme of Events is going live in May.
I hope our carers will manage to participate. Contact me if you have any problems. I having started to send out a paper copy to those registered with us and will be emailing this out also if I have your email address.
Below is a copy for you all to see. Looking forward to seeing those who can join.
We have a programme starting on 24th June! 
Regular activity days, like canoeing, gorge-walking, coasteering, hill walking, rock climbing, orienteering, and more.
New Term Programme 
