£3.5m life changing boost for young Scots thanks to Young Start

Forty-one Scottish groups today (WEDNESDAY 13 DECEMBER) are celebrating a total cash boost of £3,499,812 from the Young Start fund, distributed by The National Lottery Community Fund. See full list of awards attached

An award of £90,000 to Perthshire based charity, KYTHE, means that they will continue running a variety of youth groups for hundreds of local young people, giving them access to a range of free services such as music lessons, mental health support, study clubs, and CV writing workshops.

Grady Kinnell, 19, from Kinross started attending various after school sessions at KYTHE when he was 12 years old is now at university and credits the group with helping him to find his vocation.

Grady said: “Before I joined the group, I had no idea what I wanted to do as a career, but thanks to the sessions, I’ve found my passion - music. I’m in my second year at uni studying music, and I’m in a few bands which play regularly. I’ve played at a couple of fundraising events for KYTHE and when I see how much money the gigs have raised, I feel so proud, and I’m always so happy that I’ve helped give back to an amazing charity which gave me so much.

“I now volunteer at KYTHE, helping other young people, lots of them are shy like I was when I first joined. I love helping them explore their musical side and it’s great to see new people getting into music.”

Another group sharing in the funding is the Community Renewal Trust, which has been working with young people from the Roma community in and around Govanhill for over ten years. The group receives £98,149 to continue supporting young people into further education and jobs, a programme which has already seen more than 40 people find employment or go on to college or university.

Eighteen-year-old Alex Horvath is one young person who’s already benefitted from the support services from the project and has now begun a Community Facilitator apprenticeship with the charity.

Alex said: “I am really pleased that I got a chance to work with the project, because otherwise I wouldn't know where I would end up. As a Roma person working in an organisation, it’s a big thing for me because I would never imagine working in an office and helping other young Roma kids.”

Delia Spatareanu, Senior Youth Worker at Govanhill Roma Youth Project said:

“This funding means everything to us as it will give young people the support to develop and take control of their project and we’d like to thank Young Start for making this possible. This funding will take our work with young people to the next level, resourcing a group of young trainees and volunteers to research models of young person run projects and create a Roma youth project which will be truly run by themselves. This is the start of an exciting new journey for Roma young people in Govanhill.”

Announcing today’s funding, The National Lottery Community Fund, Scotland Chair, Kate Still, said: “We’re thrilled to be funding so many projects around the country, which will help thousands more young people like Grady and Alex reach their potential.

“We are always keen to support projects that put Scotland’s young people at the heart of the development and running of services. If your group has an idea how you would make this happen, then we’d love to hear from you.”

Young Start helps young people aged eight to 24 become more confident and play an active part in realising their potential. Funding of up to £100,000 is available for youth led projects. Groups can apply by emailing advicescotland@tnlcommunityfund.org.uk or calling 0300 123 7110.

Find out more at: https://www.tnlcommunityfund.org.uk/funding/programmes/young-start    

Date published: 13 December, 2023
Region: Scotland

Notes to Editors

Under the Dormant Bank and Building Society Accounts Act 2008, the Reclaim Fund releases funds from dormant bank accounts to the National Lottery Community Fund for distribution to good causes across the UK.              
Dormant accounts are defined in the Dormant Bank and Building Society Accounts Act 2008 as those which have seen no customer-initiated activity for at least 15 years.     
The Reclaim Fund Ltd. (RFL), which was established in March 2011 to receive and invest dormant account balances across the UK, transferred the first tranche of monies from dormant bank and building society accounts to the National Lottery Community Fund on 2 August 2011. Scotland receives 8.4% of the total funds distributed. 
We are the largest funder of community activity in the UK – we’re proud to award money raised by National Lottery players to communities across England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. National Lottery players raise £36 million each week for good causes throughout the UK**. Since The National Lottery began in 1994, £43 billion has been raised for good causes which has supported over 635,000 projects***, benefiting millions of people - that’s 255 projects per postcode area.       
We are passionate about funding great ideas that matter to communities and make a difference to people’s lives. At the heart of everything we do is the belief that when people are in the lead, communities thrive. Thanks to the support of National Lottery players, our funding is open to everyone. We’re privileged to be able to work with the smallest of local groups right up to UK-wide charities, enabling people and communities to bring their ambitions to life.

Young Start

Helping young people aged eight to 24 to become more confident and play an active part in realising their potential.