Local youth projects share criminals’ cash!

‘Investing in our young people is always money well spent’ – Justice Secretary Michael Matheson MSP

Muirhouse Youth Development Group (MYDG), Granton Youth Centre and The Yard (above) are among the youth projects to receive cash from the latest round of Cashback grants announced today.

In this funding round YouthLink Scotland has awarded £41,156 of CashBack funding to 17 organisations within the youth work sector in Edinburgh to deliver a whole range of projects for local young people.

The CashBack for Communities Youth Work Fund is administrated and delivered by the National Agency for Youth Work, YouthLink Scotland on behalf of Scottish Government.

Among those organisations to receive funding is The Big Project in the city’s Broomhouse area, they benefited to the tune of £4,406 to provide youth clubs twice a week for local youngsters.

Edinburgh City 6VT project have also been given a grant of £2,125 to carry on their work with local young people. Fiona Home, Development Co-ordinator for 6VT, said the support from CashBack over the years had been vital to their work with young people across the capital, especially since the project has recently had to find new premises.

“This June we move to our new location in the Grassmarket, currently we are operating out a church hall nearby. Without this support we would undoubtedly have lost contact with many of our young people, leaving them with nowhere to go and back to hanging out on the streets,” she said.

Broomhouse Young Carers were awarded £1,996 for a summer programme. The organisation offers respite to young carers aged 7-18 by way of weekly support groups, holiday programmes and residentials.

Kids in the Street, who offer street sports and coaching, have been given £2.100 for their youth activity programme. Susan Law, Administrator with KITS said: “The CashBack grant makes a huge difference to the range of sessions we can provide including girls football, street based sessions and our junior football academy.”

Restalrig’s Ripple Project received £3,105 to provide a dedicated girls-only provision to local young people at a vulnerable stage in their lives, providing them with a safe place to explore and address the issues and pressures that impact on young women. With the support and guidance of specialist youth workers, the girls also access a range of educational and leisure opportunities.

Liz Ferguson, who leads the project, said the funding helps to level the playing field for local young people. She said: ““These experiences through CashBack funding, go a long way in helping us develop confident and aspirational young women in a community of significant disadvantage.”

Commenting on the latest round of CashBack for Communities Youth Work Fund awards, Justice Secretary, Michael Matheson said: “Investing in our young people is always money well spent and I am delighted that the Scottish Government’s Cashback for Communities programme is providing this valuable funding for worthy projects across Edinburgh.

“This government is committed to ensuring all young people reach their full potential. The vast majority of them are a credit to society but we want to prevent the small minority getting involved in crime or antisocial behaviour in the first place.”

Chief Executive of YouthLink Scotland, Jim Sweeney added: “Crime is a real blight on our neighbourhoods and it is right that money from the proceeds of crime goes back to the very heart of our communities, our young people. We know that youth work really does change the lives of young people, not only in Edinburgh but in every part of Scotland.”

List of Awards – City of Edinburgh (£41,156)

The BIG Project £4,406
The Broomhouse Centre £1,996
St Teresa’s Youth Club £1,800
Granton Youth Centre £3,000
Beyond Gender Youth Project £1,608
The Yard Adventure Centre £2,912
Edinburgh City Youth Cafe (6VT Youth Cafe) £2,125
Pilmeny Development Project £2,783
Canongate Youth £1,404
Kids in the Street ( KITS) £2,100
Muirhouse Youth Development Group £1,525
Wester Hailes Youth Agency £1,750
Craigentinny-Lochend Social Centre £2,880
The Ripple Project £3,105
Jack Kane Community Centre £1,938
Citadel Youth Centre £4,674
Ferrywell Youth Project £1,150

First Minister confirms 500 extra apprenticeships

youth employment boost at start of Apprenticeship Week

An extra 500 Modern Apprenticeship places will be funded over the next year following a £3.8 million investment, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon confirmed today.

The funding will also be used to create more opportunities for young people still at school through work-based Foundation Apprenticeships for senior secondary pupils, which will provide industry recognised qualifications and first hand insight into the world of work.

The 500 places – announced to mark the start of Scottish Apprenticeship Week – are the first step to expand Skills Development Scotland’s current apprentice programme from 25,000 to 30,000 by 2020.

The First Minister met with some of the female apprentice mechanics at GTG Training which is owned by Arnold Clark, to highlight the opportunities open to young women through the new funding to encourage them to consider roles traditionally filled by men.

Arnold Clark has seen 160 apprentices starting this year – of whom 31 are female.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said: “It’s vitally important that all of our young people in Scotland – no matter their background – have the opportunities available to get on in life.

“Apprenticeships not only offer our young people better job prospects – they also have a positive impact on businesses and industry, bringing value to employers and our economy.

“We have already seen youth unemployment reach its lowest level in seven years and with further investment in our young workforce – like these 500 apprenticeships – we can hope to see that continue to improve.

“I also want to make sure that these opportunities are open to everyone. Traditionally, some sectors have been dominated by men and women have felt that there are barriers to them entering.

“As we continue the expansion of our successful apprenticeship programmes we need to make sure that more young women are aware of the tremendous opportunities that an apprenticeship provides.

“I want our young women – as well as our young men – to be inspired and supported to achieve whatever they want in life.”

Carol Henry, Group HR Director, Arnold Clark said: “As a large employer and supporter of developing the young workforce of Scotland, I am pleased to see the continued efforts being made around the extension of apprenticeships. For young people to succeed in today’s workplace, it is essential that they are equipped with the right skills and knowledge. The public and private sector have an important role to play in ensuring valuable learning opportunities continue to be available to young people.”

News of the extra 500 places follows hot on the heels of yesterday’s announcement of a £125,000 investment to support female apprenticeships.

Women will receive further help in taking up careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) from a new programme to support Modern Apprenticeships (MAs).

The Scottish Government is investing a further £125,000 in the CareerWISE initiative to raise awareness of STEM MAs to girls and their parents, break down barriers to women taking them up and showcase employers taking action to address gender diversity in MAs.

CareerWISE, which is delivered by Equate Scotland at Edinburgh Napier University, was created in 2013 to raise awareness of STEM careers for girls from school age onwards.

The announcement coincides with the start of Scottish Apprenticeship Week 2015, the annual showcase to highlight the benefits of MAs to both employers and potential trainees.

Cabinet Secretary for Fair Work, Skills and Training Roseanna Cunningham said: “The CareerWISE programme has made a considerable impact over the last 18 months however there remains the need to address gender balance in the STEM sectors in Scotland.

“The Scottish Government still firmly believes that there is no such thing as a job for a boy or a job for a girl. Our continued support for the CareerWISE programme and its new focus to support young women access STEM MAs sits at the heart of our drive for a more productive and fairer work place.

“I am very pleased to be able to fund this very specific piece of work that CareerWISE will take forward. This is further illustration of our determination to respond positively to recommendations of the report into Developing Scotland’s Young Workforce.

“We need more women to take up non-traditional career paths to achieve gender equality in the workplace. We are also committed to creating 30,000 new MA opportunities every year by 2020 and more women placed in STEM sectors will help us move towards that goal.

“This year’s Scottish Apprenticeship Week looks like being the biggest yet with dozens of events up and down the country with a number of Scottish ministers getting involved in both local and national initiatives. BT have already seized the initiative by announcing 90 new MA posts on Friday, and I hope the next week’s activity encourages even more employers to consider the advantages of MAs to their business and the wider economy.”

Skills Development Scotland, Chief Executive, Damien Yeates, said: “Modern Apprenticeships provide excellent opportunities for young people to work, learn and earn.

“Programmes such as CareerWISE help young women see the real benefits of Modern Apprenticeships and work-based learning as valuable career options.

“We want Scottish Apprenticeship Week to inspire young people to find out about apprenticeships and take up the great opportunities apprenticeships provide to give their careers a great start.”

Linda Somerville, Project Director at Equate Scotland,added: “Building on the success with Careerwise, Equate Scotland will partner with employers to encourage them to take positive action to offer young women access to MAs, to address skills shortages in these sectors.”

Apprenticeships: it’s a man’s world?

In Edinburgh, parents are twice as likely to advise boys to take on an apprenticeship compared to girls
Just over a quarter of parents in Edinburgh said they would offer differing career advice to their sons and daughters

New research from Scottish Gas has revealed that parents in Edinburgh are twice as likely to advise boys to take on an apprenticeship compared to girls. 15% of parents would encourage their son to take on an apprenticeship while only 8% of parents would give the same advice to their daughter.

Parents’ views have a big impact on the career choices young people make. When asked about what career their parents would like them to pursue, half (27%) of teenage boys in Glasgow said an apprenticeship; only 10% of teenage girls reported the same.

As part of Scottish Apprenticeship Week (18 – 22 May), an independent national survey* polling teens and parents found that just over a quarter (28%) of parents in Edinburgh admitted offering their children differing career advice depending on their gender.

Only 17% of teenage girls in Edinburgh view an apprenticeship as a viable career option. Yet more than a third of teenage boys (35%) are keen to go straight from school into an apprenticeship scheme.

Scottish Gas, which has trained 500 apprentices from across Scotland since opening the doors to its academy in Hamilton five years ago, is urging more girls to consider an apprenticeship. Explaining this rally to young women, the company said in 2014 only 3.3% of applicants for its competitive technical and engineering apprenticeship schemes were female.

John Lochrie, who is a former Scottish Gas apprentice and is now Operations Director for HomeCare Services at Scottish Gas, said: “It’s clear from this research that apprenticeships are still regarded as something of a man’s world among young people.

“Apprenticeships are a great way into an organisation. A Scottish Gas apprenticeship allows you to earn while you learn and encourages you to develop skills for life. I’d encourage all girls thinking about their future career, or looking for employment, to consider an apprenticeship.”

Scottish Gas’ survey also reveals concerns with careers advice for teenage girls and boys. Over two fifths (44%) of teenage girls polled in Edinburgh complained of receiving unhelpful advice and 47% of teenage boys shared the same complaint.

Poor careers advice has resulted in teenage girls limiting their own career choices. Six in ten (60%) teenage girls in Edinburgh surveyed said they had never considered a career in engineering. Meanwhile, young people in the city felt teenage girls were best suited to very stereotyped roles with their top three career choices including: nursing (67%), beauty & fashion (68%) and healthcare (67%).

Fifer Andrew Ness (above) joined the Scottish Gas apprenticeship scheme in November 2013. After studying for a BSc in Microbiology and then working in the finance sector, he decided to change direction completely.

Andrew, (35), explained: “I had started on the path to a career in IT, getting my A+ and Network+ qualifications. Then I worked in the finance sector for 10 years. At the time I was also volunteering on weekends repairing computers for charities. I wanted to move into computer repair as a career but I found there were a lot of people going after a limited number of jobs.”

Andrew heard about the apprenticeships scheme through his flatmate who works in the Scottish Gas contact centre. He said: “It seemed like a great chance to get all of the skills and knowledge that I needed to make a new career for myself. I was so excited when I found out I’d been accepted. My family were really pleased for me too, because Scottish Gas is such a well-known company.”

Andrew was looking for a career that was more hands-on than his previous office-based jobs. He said: “Learning practical skills was a real change for me, having never done anything like it before. But with the support and training I received from my instructors, and some hard work, I got better at these practical skills really quickly. I’m sure anyone else could do the same.”

Like many of Scottish Gas’ apprentices, Andrew is particularly enjoying the sociable nature of his job. He said: “It’s amazing how many times you arrive at someone’s house to do some work for them and it turns out to be someone you already know! It’s great for someone like me who enjoys meeting new people and being around others.”

Andrew is now looking forward to what the future holds. He added: “I would absolutely recommend an apprenticeship with Scottish Gas. There is a lot of work involved and it takes real commitment but it is definitely worthwhile and really shows that you are someone who can reach a goal.

“I think being engineer is a great career choice for both men and women. It’s definitely practical and you need an interest in fixing things but anyone can do it. It’s really positive that Scottish Gas is encouraging more women to join its apprenticeship scheme.”

Tips for teens interested in an apprenticeship at Scottish Gas:

Head over to www.gov.uk/further-education-skills the official apprenticeship website to discover more about apprenticeships
Keep a close eye on : http://po.st/BGNAW2015 for information on apprenticeship schemes
Attend Scottish Gas’ open day during Scottish Apprenticeship Week. You can register your interest by visiting: http://po.st/BGNAW2015

Young Peoples’ wellbeing: support session at The Junction

Local project’s films to premiere at Filmhouse

Films produced by local young people screening at the Filmhouse this Saturday

Screen Education Edinburgh has announced that five short films -produced by an innovative new North Edinburgh partnership and made entirely by young people – will receive their premieres at the Edinburgh Filmhouse this Saturday (2 May).

The films will be shown with ten other shorts from their wider BFI Film Academy and CashBack for Creativity projects.

The North Edinburgh partnership, a joint initiative involving Screen Education Edinburgh and Total Craigroyston, with funding from CashBack for Creativity, encourages young people to get involved in filmmaking rather than crime. Five of the films to be shown during the special two hour event were made by young people who are at risk of offending or reoffending.

Irvine Welsh, Patron of Screen Education Edinburgh, said: “If you come from a disadvantaged area, the world can often seem to conspire against you, constraining your vision to the streets around you and the urgent here and now of simply getting by. Cinema is a wonderful tool in combating that horrible malaise, opening up windows into different worlds, and helping us to understand our own ones better through the broadening of our horizons. The skills you learn through being part of a committed team, working on a task that can create a little bit of magic are transferable to other areas of our life.”

The partnership works with groups of 11-19 year olds from the city’s Pilton and Muirhouse area – currently ranked the worst for crime in the whole south east of Scotland – teaching young people film making skills in the evenings. The initiative was set up to improve the lives of families living around Craigroyston Community High School and is a co-ordinated effort to encourage and stimulate young people’s interest in film when they might otherwise be out on the streets.

The short films were all written, directed, filmed and acted in by the youngsters. These films explore issues through drama and music videos including motorcycle theft, the feeling of being alienated, first love and peer pressure.

Graham Fitzpatrick, Creative Manager at Screen Education Edinburgh, said: “The Pilton and Muirhouse area experienced serious issues of crime involving youths, and sometimes children, throughout 2014.

“The aim of this scheme is to help young people engage and deal with their offending issues, whilst giving them positive activities throughout the week, particularly late evenings.”

James Riordan, Lead Youth Development Worker with the Alternative to Crime Project added; “Through being involved in diversionary activities and projects such as the film programme with Screen Education Edinburgh, Young People, who have been involved in anti-social/offending behaviour in North Edinburgh, have the opportunity to be part of something positive and to get a taste of new activities and skills they wouldn’t normally have access to.

“Through working with Screen Education Edinburgh the Group have learned to adapt to different scenarios which in turn has led to them increasing their levels of self-esteem, allowing them to develop as confident Young People”.

Screen Education Edinburgh (formerly Pilton Video) was founded in 2010 to help young people develop and express themselves through film making. Edinburgh born novelist, playwright, storyteller and screenwriter, Irvine Welsh became patron of Screen Education Edinburgh in March last year.

Screen Education Edinburgh is currently running three separate local projects. One, based at FACE North (Focussing on Alternative’s to Crime Edinburgh North) and POP (Preventative Opportunities Programme), is making film drama with groups of 14 to 19 year old males, whilst another focuses on music video production with 10-12 years olds in four local primary schools.

The third supports children and youth workers based out of the Muirhouse Millennium Centre, providing film skills training to the workers, helping them to support large groups of young people in their first forays into film production.

This partnership was funded through the CashBack for Creativity scheme, part of a wider £45 million Scottish Government initiative which reinvests the proceeds recovered from criminals for the benefit of young people.

Saturday’s event at the Filmhouse will showcase the films to parents, friends, the community, councillors and guests.

The screening will also incorporate films from all Screen Education Edinburgh’s CashBack for Creativity projects, including; Score Scotland, Panmure School, MYPAS Dalkeith, Bridges Project Musselburgh, Edinburgh Young Carers and from the advanced BFI Film Academy South East of Scotland initiative.

Exam time: good luck to all candidates

Learning Minister praises hard work ahead of exams

Minister for Learning Dr Alasdair Allan has wished all pupils and students well ahead of this year’s national exam period.

Today sees the start of the exams, with Drama and Economics the first subjects to be taken. There’s then 28 days of exams – administered by the Scottish Qualifications Authority – that finish on Friday 5 June.

Dr Allan praised pupils and students for their hard work so far this year, supported by their parents and the commitment of teachers, headteachers, colleges and local authorities.

In addition to National 5s, Intermediates, existing Highers and Advanced Highers, this year’s exam process will see new Highers examined for the first time.

Dr Allan said: “The exams are the culmination of a lot of hard work over the school year and I know that across Scotland, pupils, parents, teachers, headteachers, colleges and local authorities have been preparing intensively to get to this point.

“Scottish education now offers more flexible learning opportunities for our young people. I offer my best wishes to candidates preparing to sit an exam and to those completing SQA courses that do not involve a final exam.

“This year marks an important milestone in the ongoing implementation of Curriculum for Excellence with the introduction of the new Higher.

“Curriculum for Excellence has been designed to equip our young people with the skills they need to succeed both in Scotland and in the global workplace, with local authorities having the freedom to shape education to meet the needs of our pupils, whatever their background.”

And Good Luck to all students from NEN too!

Connor joins the Muirhouse Millennium A Team!

Yet another young volunteer joins us from the council run Scheme, financially helping 16 & 17 into work or education and volunteering (writes James McGinty).

Young Connor joins our Young Team Chris Paul and Dale doing the many tasks that are required to run a successful Community Centre. Chris is pictured enjoying the morning sunshine and tending to the daffodils, maintaining a bright and cheerful garden for our community to enjoy!

Working It Out with Tomorrow’s People

Tomorrow’s People are taking referrals for their next Working It Out course that starts this month. The Working It Out course supports unemployed young people – 16-24 yrs – to gain experience and build skills to enter into further training or employment.

Every course is made up of 14 young people, with the majority of the programme spent working on community challenges. These challenges help build a young person’s employability skills, experience, team-work skills and self-esteem.

The challenges benefit the local community and give an opportunity for young people to be seen doing something positive in their local community.

Recent challenges have included:

Painting the offices of the MS Therapy Centre, Leith
Building and maintaining Pilton Community Garden,
Applying anti-climb paint to roofs of Pilton Equalities Project,
Conservation work at Hopetoun House and South Queensferry
Painting the sports area at Drylaw Neighbourhood Centre
Assisting in the building and maintaining of Cyclone Gipsy Brae Trails Mountain Bike Track
Landscaping and planting trees as part of the North Edinburgh Grows project
Painting the visitors centre at Glenkinchie Whiskey Distillery, East Lothian.

The programme runs for 16 weeks – places are limited but young people living in North Edinburgh are prioritised.

For further information telephone 0798 066 9019 or email wio.edinburgh@tomorrows-people.co.uk

Working-it-Out-Information-Sheet

Drylaw Skatepark: final consultation event

Last chance to have your say on Drylaw Skatepark

Drylaw Community Association and Edinburgh and Lothian Greenspace Trust will be holding a final consultation event on the new skatepark this Wednesday (15 April) from 5.30 – 6.30pm in Drylaw Neighbourhood Centre.

Go along, have a look at what’s being planned and have your say – the organisers are particularly keen to hear the views of young people.

Last gasp for tobacco displays

Ban on displaying tobacco in small shops comes into force today

A ban on displaying tobacco in small shops and convenience stores comes into force today. The display of tobacco products has been illegal for large stores and supermarkets since 2012 but smaller retailers were given more time to implement the legislation.

From today, the display of tobacco products is prohibited in all premises and the ban has been welcomed by public health campaigners.

Action on Smoking and Health (Ash) says the ban is an ‘important step forward’. Welcoming the ban, Hazel Cheeseman, director of policy at Ash, said: “Two-thirds of smokers start before the age of 18, so it is vital that everything is done to put tobacco out of sight to protect future generations.

“The display ban in small shops will work hand in hand with standardised packs, which will be introduced in May 2016, to further protect children from glitzy tobacco packaging.”

Retailers’ organisations say the ban is unnecessary and that there is not enough proof that it will have a real effect on child smoking rates. There also believe there are other more effective means of stopping children from taking up smoking.

The Tobacco Retailers’ Alliance, said: “The introduction of the display ban into larger shops hasn’t even been evaluated, so how do we know it will work in smaller shops? Of course retailers will need to comply with the law but this is a further unnecessary measure that will hit small businesses.

“There will be real difficulties around its application, including longer transaction times, and the costs of implementation such as the installation of new gantries. Coming on top of plain packaging, it is an unnecessary burden on shops already struggling with red tape.”

The organisation says tobacco represents about a third of the average newsagent’s turnover and says the Government should crack down harder on the tobacco black market and increase resources to enforce the existing law on the prohibition of sales to young people.

Cancer Research UK’s director of cancer prevention, Alison Cox, said: “Smoking kills 100,000 people every year in the UK. It’s great that tobacco will no longer be in plain view of children and young people every time they go into a shop.

“Research shows that children exposed to tobacco displays are more likely to start smoking and removing these eye-catching, colourful walls of cigarettes will protect them from tobacco marketing.”