- Area:
- Scotland
- Release date:
- 6 9 2012
Projects that prepare young scots for future employment are today (7 SEPT) sharing in the latest grants from the Young Start fund totalling £602,012.
Amongst the successful groups are initiatives that will provide young people with nationally recognised IT qualifications, work placements, enterprising opportunities to sell their own produce and support with job searches.
Young Start funds a range of projects that help young people aged 8 to 24 reach their full potential. Run by the Big Lottery Fund, it awards funding from dormant bank and building society accounts that have seen no customer-initiated activity for at least 15 years.
Announcing today’s 14 awardsBig Lottery Fund Scotland Director, Jackie Killeen said:“One of the aims of the Young Start fund is to help prepare young people for the world of work. Whether it’s enabling young entrepreneurs to showcase their talents, providing training that leads to IT qualifications or supporting young people with job searches, these projects will stand young people in good stead as they consider their next steps to employment. With many of these young people having being out of work or education for some time this funding will make a big difference where it’s needed most.”
Young people aged 16 to 24 from Edinburgh who have been unemployed for up to a year will have the chance to gain IT qualifications, thanks to an award of £50,000. Cre8te Opportunities Limited will offer ICT training to 60 young people leading to Microsoft and Cisco approved qualifications. It will also provide work placements and volunteering opportunities to enable them to use their newfound skills in a practical setting. Support with CV writing and interview techniques will also help young people to become job ready.
Young creative entrepreneurs will be able to showcase their ideas and sell their products, thanks to an award of £12,638. ICE Store Limited will operate a store in Grovenor Street, Edinburgh which will provide a trading outlet for young people while providing work experience in the retail sector. Following a five week period of on the job training they will receive help with job searching and interview techniques.
In the Scottish Borders an award of £49,459 to Ish'uze Youth Action will provide work and volunteer placements for over 200 young people aged 16 to 25. Also central to the project will be a range of group sessions that improve key areas such as IT and literacy skills to help prepare them for future volunteering, training and employment opportunities.
In Fife, Glenrothes YMCA will aim to improve the health and future employment prospects of young people affected by drug and alcohol abuse. With a grant of £49,838 the ‘Wise Choices for Work' project will provide young people over 16 with information, traning and volunteering opportunities that will give them an alternative to their current lifestyle. It will also train up young people to become voluntary peer educators who will share their specialist knowledge and training with other young people.
A full list of all Young Start awards made today
- 802KB
Further Information
For more details contact the Big Lottery Fund Press Scotland Office
0141 242 1458
BIG advice line: 0300 123 7110 Textphone: 0845 6021 659
Full details of the Big Lottery Fund programmes and grant awards are available on the website: www.biglotteryfund.org.uk
Notes to Editors
- 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.
- In September 2011 the Scottish Government formally issued instructions to the Big Lottery Fund to distribute dormant accounts funding for the benefit of Scotland’s voluntary and community sector.
- 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 BIG on 2 August 2011. Scotland will receive an 8.4% share of the total funds to be distributed.
- The Distribution of Dormant Account Money (Apportionment) Order 2011 prescribes that Scotland will receive 8.4% of the dormant accounts money to be made available for distribution by the Big Lottery Fund under the 2008 Act. The Big Lottery Fund has confirmed a grants budget of £3.7m to 31 March 2012 and an indicative budget of £5.2m for 2012/13. This gives an estimated total grants budget of £8.9m to 31 March 2013. It should be noted that the 2012/13 figure is a median projection and may go down or up.
- The Big Lottery Fund is committed to bringing real improvements to communities and the lives of people most in need and has been rolling out grants to health, education, environment and charitable causes across the UK since June 2004 It also uses its expertise in grant-giving to distribute non-Lottery funding. Full details of the BIG funded programmes and grant awards in Scotland are available at www.biglotteryfund.org.uk/scotland
Tags