Young Scots to benefit from £3.5 million in Young Start funding

A wide range of projects supporting young people across Scotland to develop their natural talents and make lasting connections within their local communities, are today (WEDNESDAY 30 APRIL) sharing in £3,518,157 from Young Start.

Young Start funding, delivered by The National Lottery Community Fund, awards money from dormant bank accounts to projects that help young people reach their full potential.  

See full list of projects attached.  

Music youth charity Loud n Proud has been around for over twenty years, actively seeking out local young people, who might want to get involved in the music business. Now, thanks to funding of £94,600 they will be able to run a community based, performance event management training programme for young people from the Renfrewshire area.

Ethan Livingstone, 22 from Johnstone is one of the group’s oldest members and is more than happy to mentor young people who are new to the organisation. His day job, working in IT couldn’t be more different to his passion for playing the drums.

He said: “If you want to just learn new skills you can do that, but if you want it to be more social, it can be. I would say to anybody thinking about coming along, not to be nervous and just go for it. You’ll get the chance to learn new things and it’s fun.”

Tommy McGrory, Founder, Loud n Proud, explained: “Wherever possible we try to operate an open door policy because we understand that young people often have a lot going on in their lives, outside of the time they spend here and they can’t always commit to the same time every week or any kind of rigid structure.

“Thanks to the Young Start funding, our young people will not only learn practical skills but also skills related to the music business like putting on events. Even if they decide not to pursue this as a career, the skills they learn can be transferred to lots of different types of work.”

Another organisation working hard to engage with and support young people to develop their passion is Scottish Athletics. An award of £60,310 means they can now employ a part-time Digital Content Creator and Marketing Officer to work closely with their Athletics Trust Scotland Young People's Forum (ATS YPF). The ATS YPF is a voluntary group led by Scottish Athletics to give young people a voice in sport.

Working closely with the Forum to create engaging digital content and resources and promote them on platforms like - TikTok, the new role will help the group reach a wider audience and increase awareness of topics affecting young people in sport, including athlete health, inclusion and retention of young people in sport.

Scottish Athletics CEO, Colin Hutchison, said: “We are delighted to have received funding from the Young Start Fund to support the work of our Young People's Forum.

"This will have a significant impact on the lives of young people in our sport and allow us to reach a wider, younger audience which will help -our young people meet their full potential through physical activity and sport."

Announcing the funding Kate Still, The National Lottery Community Fund, Scotland Chair said: “We are delighted to announce our latest Young Start funding, which allows us to support organisations like Loud n Proud and Scottish Athletics who are providing a safe and welcoming environment where the door is always open for young people to go and learn new skills and hone their talents. Through our Young Start grants we want to continue to support more projects like these which work so hard to encourage and develop the potential of young Scots.”

To find out more visit www.TNLCommunityFund.org.uk