£30,000 is up for grabs in the ScottishPower Foundation Awards
Seven charities across Scotland have been shortlisted for this year’s ScottishPower Foundation Awards, which showcase incredible projects that make a positive impact on people and communities across the country.
They are among 14 UK charities competing for a share of £30,000 as part of this year’s awards.
The ScottishPower Foundation Awards 2021 are open to recipients of this year’s ScottishPower Foundation funding, with almost £1.2 million awarded to a wide range of outstanding charities. The annual awards – now in their eighth year – are an opportunity for charities to apply for additional funding, with each category winner receiving £5,000 and the runners up awarded £2,500.
Nominated projects are judged in four categories: the Innovation Award, the Education Award, the Community Engagement Award, and the Charity Champion Award – which gives special recognition to the outstanding contribution made by an exceptional employee or volunteer who exemplifies what their organisation stands for.
The shortlisted Scottish charities are:
- Culture, Heritage and Arts, Argyll and Isles (CHARTS) has been shortlisted for its contribution to the ‘Eco Cluster Garden’ project, which has established a creative network around a community garden based at The Rockfield Centre, a newly-refurbished culture and heritage venue in Oban. The project will explore Oban’s heritage in an entirely new way, re-establishing elements and activities of the past into modern day life.
- Drake Music Scotland, based in Edinburgh, has been shortlisted for its flagship music education programme, ‘All Join In’ and its virtual music project, ‘Musicspace@HOME’. ‘All Join In’ is an inclusive music education programme committed to raising aspirations for children with additional support needs and removing barriers to participate in music making. The programme works with schools across Scotland each year, providing 1,000 children access to inclusive instruments and techniques which can be used by everyone, regardless of ability. This has proven benefits for communication skills and wellbeing. ‘Musicspace@HOME’, a fully inclusive and innovative virtual music session, was developed to help disabled people deal with the stress and isolation of the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Dundee Heritage Trust has been shortlisted for its suite of community engagement and school learning programmes. Activities for families, young adults and older people include regular talks and specialist tours which use themes from the city’s industrial and social heritage to bring together people of all ages and backgrounds. The charity provides formal learning opportunities for around 8,000 pupils each year from schools across Dundee, Angus, Fife and Perthshire. Visiting classes are given guided tours and get to see demonstrations of working machinery and take part in workshops to learn more about Dundee’s industrial past.
- Alloa-based charity, Scottish Autism, has been shortlisted for its Advice Line and ‘Affinity’ project. The Affinity project is an online coaching and counselling service for autistic individuals and families throughout Scotland, which will support them with the long-term effects of Covid-19 on mental health and wellbeing. Its Advice Line is an accessible service to support the mental health and wellbeing of autistic people in Scotland.
- Finding Your Feet has been shortlisted for its work to support Scottish amputees. The charity provides a welcoming environment where people feel accepted and empowered and worked tirelessly to redesign its offering during the pandemic to ensure it could continue to offer support online and via telephone. The charity’s Business Development Manager, Fiona Conway, has also been nominated for the Charity Champion Award for her passion and commitment, which has seen her drive forward plans to move to larger premises to help even more people in communities across the country.
- Street League – which uses the power of sport to tackle poverty and give young people the opportunities they need to succeed – has been shortlisted for its ‘Head – Body – Future’ online employment and sport programme. It helped understand and meet the needs of young people during lockdown and ensured they had money for food and data bundles to access online support and apply for jobs.
- Cumbernauld-based Spina Bifida Hydrocephalus Scotland has been shortlisted for its ‘Tools for Transition’ which provides support, advice and advocacy to children and young people with spina bifida/hydrocephalus facing the transition from nursery to primary and primary to secondary school. A bespoke programme of support will be delivered, including school talks, continence support, and finance and benefits advice for parents to ensure that children with spina bifida/hydrocephalus have the best possible start in life. Eight-year-old Laila McRae has also been nominated in the Charity Champion category. Laila, who has juvenile arthritis, has raised more than £2,000 for the charity, which helps support her sister, Amber, who was born with spina bifida and hydrocephalus. She’s drawn rainbows of hope and placed them on lamp posts around her local area, while she’s also completed the Kiltwalk in April this year.
The shortlist was selected by a judging panel made up of experts from ScottishPower and the skills and education sector. This year’s judges are Arthur McIvor, senior client manager for energy and utility skills; Marina Livingstone, programme director at Strathclyde University Business School; Sheila Duncan, human resources director for ScottishPower; and Melanie Hill, executive officer and trustee of the ScottishPower Foundation.
Hill said: “All this year’s shortlisted projects are a great example of the difference the ScottishPower Foundation’s funding can make and the tremendous efforts and lengths our supported charities go to in order to make a positive impact in the lives of their beneficiaries. Despite all the challenges of the past 18 months, they have continued to support, educate and inspire people and communities across the country and go above and beyond to help others and make a difference.
“The commitment, resilience and creativity of these fantastic charities is exactly what the ScottishPower Foundation Awards are all about and it’s a privilege to be able provide additional funding to help them keep up their invaluable work. I can’t wait to see the winners and runners-up revealed on awards day.”
The shortlisted charities will find out if they have been successful when the winners and runners-up are announced on ScottishPower’s Twitter channel – @ScottishPower – over the course of awards day on Friday 3 September 2021.
The ScottishPower Foundation was established in 2013 to make a significant and lasting contribution to society, enhancing the lives of people living in communities throughout the UK. It provides funding to help support the advancement of education, environmental protection, arts and culture and citizenship. It also supports charities who aim to provide relief from poverty, disability, or other disadvantages.
