Youth charities and groups in Scotland share £600,000 in Lottery funding

The National Lottery Community Fund (NLCF) has handed £600,000 to youth charities and groups in Scotland to help young people gain new skills and to support their mental health.

The Young Start fund was set up three years ago to support young people aged between eight and 24.

Among those to access the latest wave of grants, of between £10,000 and £100,000, is the Tiree Community Development Trust. It is using its £46,814 grant to support young people living on the remote island of Tiree, which has a population of 800 people.

“Living in such a remote setting can be incredibly difficult for some young people,” said the Trust’s youth activities coordinator Willie MacKinnon.

“The funding means we can keep delivering the activities which really have become paramount to the children and young adults in our community to have a well-rounded experience of growing up.”

Another is the Cantraybridge Café and Enterprise Shop, which has been handed £60,000 to re-open a closed down café in the grounds of a Cantraybridge College, a further education site in Croy Inverness for students with special needs.

The organisation’s CEO Hazel Clark said: “The funding will enable us to re-open our café and provide that wonderful link between the young people who attend and the local community.”

Kate Sill, the NLCF’s Scotland chair added: “Young people across the country have faced an enormously difficult period over the last 20 months.

“We’re thrilled to have been able to commit another £600,000 to projects across the country which are dedicated to improving the future of young Scots.”