Tag: Youth Work

Government announces more cashback for youth groups

Minister for Young People welcomes £533k investment in 161 projects across Scotland

youthlinkThousands of young people across Scotland will benefit from CashBack for Communities youth work grants totalling half-a-million pounds which have been announced today for 2014-15.

Sixteen Edinburgh youth projects will receive a share of almost £46,000 this year – local beneficiaries include Pilton Youth & Children’s Project (PYCP), Leith’s Pilmeny Development Project, The Yard in Stockbridge and Granton Youth Centre,

Allocations from the CashBack for Communities Youth Work Fund for the first year, administered by YouthLink Scotland, have been made to 161 community groups supporting young people the length and breadth of Scotland. Between them, they are sharing an initial £533,036, which marks the first awards from a £2.094 million fund over the next three years.

Minister for Children and Young People Aileen Campbell welcomed today’s announcement. She said: “Since Cashback for Communities was introduced by this Government in 2007, thousands of young people have benefited from more than 1.5 million sporting, cultural and educational activities and opportunities, all funded from ill-gotten cash seized from crooks. I am delighted to see so many great organisations are receiving this latest funding, which will help them take their important work even further.

“The average CashBack youth work funding award for each organisation is around £3,310 and that is an investment that will go a long way in supporting activities for young people. I have seen for myself many examples of the excellent work these organisations do, and wish them well as they turn exciting plans into reality.”

One organisation to have benefited is Strathmore Centre for Youth Development, which provides information and services for young people in the Strathmore area of Perthshire. It has received £2,182 to support its programme of activities, which includes organising trips for local youngsters.

Craig Cantwell, Centre Manager, said: “CashBack funding is extremely important to us as it allows us to give opportunities to young people who would otherwise never access such trips or learning opportunities. They are open to ideas and projects that are a bit different than the norm.

“As a retired Police Officer, I am grateful that this money is being put to good use and is being fed back into communities across Scotland.”

Another of the recipients to have benefited is Mid Argyll Youth Development Services, which has received £1,740 to support a dance program offered to young people throughout the region. Fiona Kalache, the Services’ Manager, said: “We are delighted to have been awarded a CashBack grant. This money will allow us to continue to run our diversionary dance program over the coming year. This is a very popular project which could not have carried on without this donation.”

Jim Sweeney, Chief Executive of YouthLink Scotland, said: “Our young people are the future of this nation so it is crucial they all have the opportunity to flourish. Putting the cash from criminals back into communities has offered thousands of young people the chance of a more positive path in life. Investing in youth work changes young people’s lives. It is an investment in all our futures as it helps create young people who are confident, engaged and a credit to society.”

Since the inception of the CashBack for Communities in 2007, over £74 million recovered from criminals has been invested in the Cashback Programme to provide over 1.5 million free activities for children and young people throughout Scotland.

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£2.1m CashBack to support youth projects

25,000 young people set to benefit from seized proceeds of crime this year

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The Scottish Government has announced that more than £2 million is to be invested to create life-changing opportunities for vulnerable young people.

The CashBack for Communities funding will be invested by national youth work agency, YouthLink Scotland, over the next three years in projects that will empower and guide Scotland’s young people towards a more positive future.

It’s estimated that around 25,000 young people will be able to access new opportunities in each of the three years as a result of the new funding. This will continue the support of the youth work that has already provided 330,000 opportunities for young people and created a 73,000-strong army of volunteers and workers.

Minister for Children & Young People Aileen Campbell welcomed the news yesterday when she visited the Green Shoots project – on the same day the recently-published National Youth Work Strategy Scotland was debated in the Scottish Parliament.

Green Shoots – a 12-week programme that gives young people at risk of becoming involved in antisocial behaviour or alcohol and drug dependency the opportunity to take part in community-based environmental volunteering – is a great example of criminals’ ill-gotten gains being used for the benefit of communities.

Ms Campbell said: “Youth work is a hugely effective force for good for hundreds of thousands of people and the perfect way to reinvest the CashBack for Communities funding. This money will help offer activities, skills and training opportunities and, most importantly, a place to turn for many young people facing difficulties or at a crossroads in their lives.

“Investment in youth work is not just the right thing to do; it is the smart thing to do. I am lucky to have seen first-hand the difference youth projects make in giving young people confidence to make their voice heard, seize the opportunities in front of them and make the right decisions for themselves and their families.”

Jim Sweeney, CEO, YouthLink Scotland, said: “Over the last five years, CashBack for Communities has created a generation of local superheroes, giving power back to young people and their communities by using the cash seized from criminals as a force for positive change.

“This money has helped young people access life-changing youth work opportunities which has given them more optimism for the future and has proved to many young people that they can achieve their ambitions despite difficult life circumstances.”

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Since 2007, over £74 million of money seized through the Proceeds of Crime Act has been put to excellent use through CashBack for Communities, funding around 1.2 million activities and opportunities for young people.

 

Plans For New Youth Centre In Inverleith Ward

Fet Lor Youth Club is set to be demolished rebuilt as a purpose build state-of-the-art facility which has been designed with the help of local young people.

The club works with youngsters between the ages of eight and 18 in the local area, offering them a wide range of activities, opportunities and experiences they may not otherwise come across such as the Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme, Outdoor Education programmes and various other worthwhile initiatives. The existing much-loved and well-used centre inNorth Edinburghis a wooden building which was built in the early 1960s. It has been looked after well over the years but it won’t last forever and it has been a dream of the club for some years to replace the building.

Architects began work on the plans four years ago after which Fet Lor launched their ‘Big Project’ to raise the projected £1.5 million cost for the rebuild. A figure that the club cites as a “significant challenge” on their website. Centre manager, Mark Foster is enthusiastic about the proposed new building. He said: “It is potentially a huge step up from the facilities we have at the moment and will offer new variety for the members. The current centre has been struggling on for 40 to 50 years and it has reached the end of its useful life, now we have the opportunity to get a brand new facility. Having it purpose-built will be a significant advantage. We don’t have a whole lot of space here that is not for sport. There is not much room for small group work and the new building will hopefully tackle that.

“The area tends to be dominated by the boys playing football, but there will now be a dance area which the girls were keen on having in the new facility. It will also give us designated areas for the more messy activities like bike maintenance and it means we do not have to constantly tidy up areas so these can be used for different activities. Within the plans for the new centre there will also be a low-level climbing wall in the corner of the sports hall. This again will allow us offer new experiences to the young people who attend the provision”

Architect, James Robertson worked collaboratively with Pippa Swan to design the new building. He said: “We spent time talking with the members of the club asking them what they liked about the current building, what they didn’t like and what they would like to see in the new place. We had thought that they would want to have lots of light flooding in and for it to look really futuristic in style. But they didn’t want people to be able to see in, they wanted it to be their space so we worked on the concept of a fort to protect. The whole design was driven by this and once we had that, the rest of it just fell into place.

“The new design will offer various different spaces, at the moment there is really only one main hall and if the boys are playing football then it is hard for Mark and the other leaders to be heard. The exterior will be made up of jigsaw cladding which will allow light in from different angles throughout the day this will mean that the space will always be changing with different shadows inside the building. The lighting on the outside of the building can also vary meaning that it is always changing. They wanted to have their jewel and that’s what we have tried to do.”

The proposed plans which have been submitted to the City ofEdinburgh Councilinclude the demolition of the existing youth club structure and the removal of the existing nursery structure. The new youth club would be built on the same site along with the relocation of the nursery building. The plans are currently pending consideration by the City ofEdinburgh Councilplanning department.[slideshow]