- Area:
- Scotland
- Programme:
- Young People's Fund Scotland
- Release date:
- 9 3 2007
The first youth theatre for Scotland’s deaf young people has today been given the green light, thanks to funding announced by the Big Lottery Fund. The theatre company, Solar Bear Limited, is one of 22 groups across Scotland sharing in over £2 million from BIG’s Young People’s Fund.
Today’s funding will benefit projects run for and by young people aged 11 to 25. These range from projects that will provide support for young people who self harm and those leaving care to projects that will encourage the musical and sporting talents of Scotland’s young people.
Solar Bear Ltd today receives £106,799 to set up Scotland’s first deaf youth theatre which will give young people the confidence and skills to take part in drama productions. Four young deaf youth workers will receive training which will give them a range of transferable skills to deliver the drama workshops. The project will provide 36 weekly workshops each year. It will also enable the young people to take part in drama productions, which will allow them to meet and interact with other young people.
Deborah Andrews, Artistic Director, Solar Bear, said: “We are delighted to receive this award from the Young People's Fund. As a company at the forefront of pioneering integrative theatre in Scotland, this award will enable Solar Bear to provide equal opportunities for young deaf people to access the performing arts. The Deaf Youth Theatre will support the development of interpersonal and creative skills of its young members, as well as helping to extend the notion of what professional theatre has the potential to be."
Penumbra Ltd receives £198,497 for its North Ayrshire self harm project. Thanks to today’s funding, young people from 11 and upwards will receive the support required to help them recognise the triggers that lead to their self harming. The project, based in Ardrossan, will also provide parents and youth workers with the skills required to support young people who self harm or at risk of self harming. Those young people who have been referred to the project will also play a key role in all aspects of the project and will help to shape its future development.
Pat Little, Development Manager, Penumbra Ltd said: “We are delighted to receive this funding from the Big Lottery Fund to develop our work in North Ayrshire. We have long believed that the experts on young people's health are young people themselves and this funding will enable young people in North Ayrshire to influence the types of services they would like to see developed in the future."
Big Lottery Fund Scotland Director, Dharmendra Kanani, said: “The Young People’s Fund is about changing the way in which organisations work with and respond to young people. It’s about making sure that young people are given the tools and opportunities to make decisions about the things that affect their lives. I am pleased to see the range of projects that have picked up funding today. They will make a huge difference to the lives of hundreds of young people helping to increase their confidence and give them a whole new skill set.”
Other Young People’s Fund awards made today:
| Organisation | Project Summary | Award |
| Dumfries and Galloway Council | This project will enable pupils from Dalbeattie High School to work with the local amateur theatre-company, Birchvale Players, and professionals from a theatre group, TAG Ltd, to fully understand the process of staging a production. Pupils may also choose to be involved through an enterprise project to market the production. | £68,952 |
| Perth and Kinross Council | This project will provide young people with a range of communication skills such as basic computing, i-texting, report writing, website design and web journalism. The project will run for two years and benefit 250 young people. | £25,293 |
| The City of Edinburgh Council | The Adventure Edinburgh project will teach young people the skills needed to take part in a range of outdoor activities such as hill walking, climbing and mountain biking. The young people involved will also have the opportunity to gain National Governing Body certificates in their chosen activities. | £188,580 |
| Breadalbane Canoe Club | This project will benefit the young people of Aberfeldy in Perthshire by delivering more indoor and outdoor kayaking sessions as well as offering young people the opportunity to gain official accreditation and coaching qualifications. This four year project will benefit 192 young people from local primary and secondary schools. | £12,314 |
| Cair Scotland | This project in Milnathort, will employ a female sexual health education project worker. The project worker, who will also deliver services to young men, will allow women to talk about issues they have found it difficult to talk to male project workers about. | £190,573 |
| Inverness Blitz | This project will develop and promote the sport of American Football among 2,700 young people aged 11 to 25 in the Highland area. PE and after school sessions will be organised together with volunteer coach education opportunities. | £70,500 |
| Govan Initiative Ltd | This project provides diversionary activities for young people aged 12 to 24 within the Greater Govan area with the aim of reducing crimes of an antisocial nature. The first facility is a street football pitch that can be moved around Govan. The second is a mobile computer suite that allows access to the internet, computer training and gaming. | £160,000 |
| Ayr - Community Engagement and Regeneration Trust | This pilot project aims to identify the range of needs of young people who are not participating in the youth services already provided by Ayr Community Engagement and Regeneration Trust. The team will work on the streets engaging, educating, nurturing and supporting young people. | £57,408 |
| Coldstream Community Trust (St Cuthberts) | This project will offer weekday after school clubs, holiday programmes and various trips away. Activities offered will include arts and crafts, football, yoga and cookery while experts will visit throughout the year and provide classes in subjects such as pottery or mechanics. Young people will play an active role in the running of the club. | £32,000 |
| The Get Up and Go Youth Club | This project will improve the confidence, independence and communication skills of young people with disabilities. It will be available to those in Clydebank and will provide a weekly programme that will enable young people to participate in a variety of locally based and residential activities such as arts and crafts, trips and weekends away. | £43,654 |
| Mid Argyll Youth Project | This project will deliver a wide range of activities and services, to 400 young people over four years, from the project's base in Lochgilphead. The programmes include; community safety, environmental education, sexual health education, alcohol and drugs awareness, sport and leisure activity, ICT, youth work training, literacy and numeracy and mental health based work. | £177,670 |
| Family Mediation Lothian | This project will develop a 'Time to Talk' service for young people aged 12-18 years, whose parents are experiencing conflict around the process of separating and/or divorcing. It will provide practical support to enable young people over 12 years of age to complete a Parenting Plan. With assistance provided by the Family Mediator posts, young people will be able to negotiate with their parents until an agreed plan is in place. | £192,463 |
| Loud 'N' Proud | This project will improve and enhance young people's musical performance skills, improve their skills and knowledge of event management and sound engineering and increase their knowledge of the music industry. The project will support local bands, or young people wishing to form bands, to play live music and provide them with the management skills to organise their own community based music events. This project will benefit 300 young people across Renfrewshire. | £133,223 |
| Volunteer Centre Midlothian | This project will provide volunteering opportunities for young people. These volunteering opportunities will range from single day placements to 12 week 'Volunteering Taster Sessions'. The project will run for three years and reach 150 young people facing a variety of issues such as risk of exclusion, bullying and behavioural problems. | £36,554 |
| Scottish Marriage Care Limited | This 18 month pilot project will develop a relationship education programme among young people in Dundee and Falkirk. It will also develop support and information networks for young parents. The project will include peer education workshops, youth counselling and workshops on teenage pregnancies. | £197,926 |
| Partners in Advocacy | This project will benefit 48 young people in Dundee over three years. It will enable young people with learning disabilities or others who face major challenges in their lives to develop self-confidence and support mechanisms to deal with their lives and to influence the views of other. A series of workshops will help the young people to develop assertiveness, problem solving and decision making skills. | £52,955 |
| Scottish Throughcare and Aftercare Forum | The 'Debate Project' will give young people a voice to influence key decision makers on good practice and future service provision. This project will fund the new post of Participation Co-ordinator who will work with young people to establish local groups and empower a local voice which will then feed into the central work. The new post will provide practical support, guidance, advice, and help to co-ordinate events. | £98,100 |
| St. Andrew's Parish Church Family Support Project | This project will support young single parents in Dundee by holding weekly group meetings where the participants can attend with their children, mix with peers and receive help and support. A number of agencies will attend to give talks and advice to support parents into training and education. | £29,800 |
| Edinburgh Woodcraft Folk | This project will focus on an innovative way of combating climate change with young people delivering a peer education programme for other young people through the use of 'The Powerpod' trailer. The Powerpod illustrates the benefits of wind and solar power. It is equipped with educational models and activities and information produced by young people for young people. 7400 young people per year will attend the workshops. | £84,255 |
Further information
Contact Landa Rolland at the Big Lottery Fund Scotland Press Office on: 0141 242 1458 or 07789 033457
Public Enquiries Line: 08454 102030
Textphone: 0845 6021 659
Full details of the Big Lottery Fund programmes and grant awards are available at: www.biglotteryfund.org.uk
Notes to Editors
- The Big Lottery Fund rolls out close to £2 million in Lottery good cause money every 24 hours which together with other Lottery distributors means that across the UK most people are within a few miles of a Lottery-funded project.
- The Big Lottery Fund, the largest of the National Lottery good cause distributors, has been rolling out grants to health, education, environment and charitable causes across the UK since its inception in June 2004.
- On 1 December 2006 the Big Lottery Fund was officially established by Parliament and at the same time assumed the residual responsibilities of the dissolved National Lottery Charities Board (Community Fund) the New Opportunities Fund, and the Millennium Commission. The Fund is building on the experience and best practice of the merged bodies to simplify funding in those areas where they overlap and to ensure Lottery funding provides the best possible value for money.
- Since the National Lottery began in 1994, 28p from every pound spent by the public has gone to Good Causes. As a result, over £19.5 billion has now been raised and more than 250,000 grants given out across the arts, sport, heritage, charities, health, education and the environment.
SCOTLAND
The Big Lottery Fund has £275 million to invest in Scotland’s communities before 2009 as follows:
- £231 million for the Fund’s Unified Investment Plan (Investing in Communities)*
- £20 million for the Young People’s Fund
- £24 million for Awards for All (until 2006)
The Fund’s future funding plans are detailed in the manifesto ‘Investing in Communities'.
The Young People’s Fund (Scotland) is a £20 million programme open for applications until August 31st 2007. It aims to help young people aged 11-25 learn new things and take part in healthy and positive activities that make them feel good about themselves. Young people themselves are involved in every aspect of the programme including making the decisions.
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