Young people will lead an in-depth, 15-month study into child and adolescent mental health services to recommend improvements to Ministers. Mental Health Minister Maureen Watt has announced £95,000 to establish the Youth Commission on Mental Health Services – a partnership between the Scottish Government, Young Scot and the Scottish Association for Mental Health (SAMH). Continue reading Young people to take the lead in mental health study
People are most likely to hold positive views of young people as trustworthy and helpful to others, new research from the Scottish Government shows. The survey, published during the launch week of Year of Young People 2018 (above) examined the attitudes and perceptions of more than 1,000 adults towards 13-19 year olds. Continue reading Swinney: “More must be done to change attitudes to young people”
How to keep your child safe online
According to the NSPCC, there were over 12,000 counselling sessions with young people who talked to Childline about online issues last year, with an 87% increase in sessions over the past three years. Enigma Digital Limited works with families all across the UK to restore peace of mind to parents that are worried about their children being bullied by providing Enigma Recovery, the number one smartphone data recovery solution provider that allows users to retrieve stolen or deleted data. Continue reading A parents’ guide to cyberbullying
Year of Young People launched today
A major programme of events and activities to celebrate Scotland’s young people will take place in 2018, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon will announce today. A global first, the Year of Young People 2018 will provide a platform to showcase the personalities, talents and achievements of Scotland’s young people.
It will give young people, aged 8 to 26, new opportunities to influence decision making on issues affecting their lives and be involved in cultural and sporting opportunities across the country.
Young people have been involved in designing the programme, with more than 500 signed up to volunteer as Year of Young People 2018 Ambassadors.
EventScotland will deliver a programme of events for all ages, and Young Scot, Children in Scotland, the Scottish Youth Parliament and YouthLink Scotland will lead youth participation and involvement in the Year.
Ahead of meeting young people in Dumfries the First Minister said: “This is an opportunity to shine a light on the fantastic contribution young people make to life in Scotland. The Year of Young People will give young people a new platform and new opportunities for their voices to be heard in all parts of our society and hopefully help to foster a better understanding, co-operation and respect between generations.
“The talents of our young people span the length and breadth of the country – evident in the great programme they have helped to put together. I want to thank all of the partners involved in supporting this initiative, who have helped to put together what I am sure will be a wonderful celebration of young people in 2018.”
To support the Year, a group of young leaders called Communic18, will work with organisations throughout 2018.
Communic18 member Lauren Asher, 18, from Dumfries, said: “I wanted to be involved in the Year to help challenge the perceptions of young people. I have suffered from mental health issues and as part of my role, I hope to give more young people a voice on this issue so that we can change attitudes and ensure young people are having their say on issues which affect their lives.”
Other partners involved in delivering the Year of Young People 2018 include Creative Scotland and Glasgow European Championships 2018.
Visit the Year of Young People 2018 website for more information about the year.
The EventScotland events programme can also be viewed online. It includes:
The Year of Young People 2018 is focused around six core themes: Culture, Education, Health and Wellbeing, Enterprise and Regeneration, Equality and Diversity and Participation.
Scottish Government activity will focus on giving young people a stronger voice in policy making across education, mental health services and children’s rights. They will also be involved in the European Championships 2018.
It is part of the Programme for Government 2017-18, which committed to: strengthening the voice of children and young people in their education and learning; promoting and protecting children’s wellbeing and rights; and improving their life experiences and life chances.
The YoYP 2018 Ambassadors initiative, led by Young Scot, Children in Scotland and the Scottish Youth Parliament, will see young people working with their peers and older generations to challenge negative stereotypes of young people within communities.
Continue reading Scotland’s youth to take centre stage in 2018
I am writing to let you know about the workshops that we run for young people in schools and youth groups in Edinburgh (writes SARAH McCRORY). Continue reading British Red Cross offers free workshops for young people in Edinburgh
New course starting Monday 6th November
An apprenticeship programme designed to empower young people who have a disability to have a voice in shaping sporting activity in Scotland receives £49,985 of Young Start funding being awarded today. Disability Sport (SDS) is one of five groups sharing in £206,196 of funding from the Big Lottery Fund’s Young Start programme, thanks to dormant bank and buildings account money. Continue reading Young Start empowers sporting Scots to have their say
Charity The Children’s Society has welcomed First Minister Nicola Sturgeon’s announcement that all care leavers in Scotland will be exempt from council tax. Continue reading Children’s Society welcomes council tax exemption for Scottish care leavers
Hundreds of sixth year pupils from schools across Edinburgh will test out “seatbelt slide” crash simulators, drunk goggles and even get the chance to sit behind the wheel of an electric bus as part of a fun but hard-hitting three-day road safety education event this week.
The Streets Ahead Edinburgh Young Driver event returns to the Corn Exchange for a seventh year from 9-12 October, hosted by Forth 1 DJ Grant Thomson.
The popular event is jointly run by all partners in Streets Ahead Edinburgh, namely City of Edinburgh Council, Police Scotland, NHS Lothian, Scottish Fire & Rescue Service, Transport Scotland and Scottish Safety Camera Unit (East). It is supported by Digby Brown Solicitors, who are again bringing their interactive ‘mock court’ to the Young Driver event.
Returning again this year to speak to the young drivers is Laura Torrance (below). Laura, 34, has been a wheelchair user since 1999 when she was seriously injured in a car accident at the age of 16.
As well as meeting Laura, sixth-year pupils attending the four-day event will have the opportunity to try out a range of fun, interactive activities highlighting the dangers of driving, such as drunk goggles, a seatbelt slide and a breathalyser.
A new presentation by Police Scotland will further help drive home safety messages by using dash-cam footage of an incident involving a young driver, while Operation Close Pass will show pupils the safe distances for overtaking a cyclist on the road.
As well as Edinburgh Trams, Lothian (Buses) are taking part in Young Driver for the first time this year. In addition to giving pupils the chance to sit behind the wheel of a stationary electric bus to highlight driver visibility first hand, they will give a presentation about the unintended consequences brought about by the seemingly small actions of other road users: for example overtaking, undertaking or lane swerving, even at slow speeds, can cause a bus to brake sharply, sometimes resulting in fatal consequences for the customers on board.
Cycling group Spokes is also involved in the event, highlighting the need for drivers and cyclists to look out for each other on the roads.
Councillor Karen Doran, Transport Vice Convener, said: “Our annual Young Driver events are always hugely popular. Their emphasis on fun, interactive elements combined with hard-hitting stories and messages gives sixth year pupils the chance to digest some extremely powerful safety messages about driving and sharing the road.
“As a Council, our vision is for everybody to be safe from the risk of being killed or seriously injured on our roads. By reaching these young drivers in this way, we are helping them to keep themselves and others safe by stressing that all road users need to look out for each other.”
Inspector Roger Park of Police Scotland’s Road Policing Unit said: “Keeping people safe is the cornerstone of Police Scotland and reducing the number of people killed or seriously injured on our roads plays a significant part in that process.
“My colleagues and I in Police Scotland are delighted to support this very useful and worthwhile event, where we will work closely with our partners in a multi-agency approach, engaging with young people who may be about to take up motoring in one form or another.
“This year, Police Scotland has introduced its Innovative ‘New Driver Early Intervention Scheme’ which we will be presenting throughout the event. The scheme provides an insight into the potential dangers associated with motoring and introduces advice and guidance which I am confident will assist in influencing lifestyle choices which in turn will contribute to our overall goal of reducing casualties on or roads.”
Gordon Dalyell is a Partner and Head of Network at Digby Brown Solicitors who stage the judicial demo. He said: “There are too many avoidable road traffic crashes in and around Edinburgh, but what can make these more tragic is many of them involve young or newly qualified drivers.
“The court display of our Edinburgh solicitors may be a demo but the details are based on real cases which keenly highlight the very real and potentially devastating consequences of road traffic collisions. If Young Drivers 2017 helps save even one life, then it’s a project Digby Brown is proud to support.”
Sarah Boyd, Lothian Operations Director, said: “Getting behind the wheel for the first time is exciting and we are delighted to be able to attend the City of Edinburgh Council’s Young Driver event to offer support and guidance to the next generation of drivers.
“As the city population expands and road space decreases, it is important to understand how to share road space responsibly and our presentation aims to make other road users aware of the direct impact their driving can have on our customers and buses.
“By working with the Council at this year’s Young Driver event we hope to develop awareness of how the smallest of actions whilst driving can have life changing and lasting consequences.”
Kenneth Rogers of Scottish Fire and Rescue Service said: “Road collisions are the biggest cause of death for young people aged between 15 and 19.
“This is why the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service is keen to raise awareness of the dangers and help save lives. We hope this multi-agency approach to encourage safe and responsible driver behaviour, and showing the possible consequences of irresponsible driving gets the message across.”
The facts (from Road Safety Scotland):
– An average of 54 accidents a week in Scotland involve a young driver aged between 17 and 25.
– They account for ten per cent of all licence holders, yet young drivers are involved in 20 per cent of accidents.
– Sadly, those accidents lead to an average of one death and more than 70 people injured every week.
Check out Edinburgh Young Driver on Twitter@edinyoungdriver and follow the hashtag #edinyd.
“It really made me stop and think about what can happen; and how it’s not just your life that can be ruined but how it affects your whole family too.” (Sixth year pupil, Craigmount High School)
“Pupils and staff found all events thought-provoking, while the interactive elements allowed for fun but at the same time a serious message was being given.” (Staff member, Queensferry Community High School)
