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My name is Maureen McGinn and I am the Chair of the Big Lottery Fund in Scotland. We’re
here today for the launch of the Young Start grants programme which is a programme to help
fund work with children and young people aged 8 to 24 across Scotland. It’s really important
because in the current climate of the recession young people are particularly badly hit especially
when it comes to finding work so Young Start will, amongst other things, help young people
to become more enterprising, it will help to develop their confidence, it will help
them become healthier and generally help them become more connected in their communities.
I had gone to college. I went to do events management at Telford but then I left after
a few months because it wasn’t a thing I could see myself doing but then I was unemployed
for 6 months and then I qualified for Community Jobs funding which gives me a six month placement
which is great. I’m a cafe assistant and I help with coffees, serving customers and
taking food to customers. A lot of people...you don’t get a chance anymore, like not many
people will hire you without experience so this kind of thing gets you experience you
could transfer which gives you a better chance of getting a job at the end of it.
This is a fantastic venture by the Big Lottery Fund to utilise the dormant banks account
money that has been lying about doing nothing but will be deployed to support young people
in Scotland and to make sure that the projects that will make such a difference to young
people in Scotland can be properly and effectively funded in the years to come, so its a very
exciting initiative that brings together resources that were not being used properly or fully
and allow them to be deployed for the benefit of young people in Scotland.
Young Start is going to run for two years and organisations in the community and voluntary
sector can apply for funding for between ten and fifty thousand pounds to support work
with children and young people.
Young Start!