Over £400,000 of additional funding from CashBack for Communities dished out
Six major youth groups in Scotland have received over £400,000 of cash seized from criminals.
The organisations are splitting £412,000 of additional funding gained through the Proceeds of Crime Act as part of the CashBack for Communities programme.
Benefitting are the Boys’ and Girls’ Brigades, Clubs for Young People Scotland, Girlguiding Scotland, Scouts Scotland and Youth Scotland.
The funding was announced by justice secretary Michael Matheson at the Boys’ Brigade Scottish headquarters in Larbert, where young people from each of the groups were in attendance.
He said: “I am extremely pleased to be able to announce this additional funding for these very deserving youth organisations, run primarily by volunteers.
We are grateful that CashBack for Communities funding enables us to promote and sustain volunteer-led youth work in Scotland
“The CashBack programme is all about seizing money from criminals and re-investing it back into the community to fund facilities and activities for young people to stop them getting involved in crime and anti-social behaviour.
“As a government we are committed to tackling inequality and CashBack offers every young person, regardless of their background, the opportunity to get involved in positive activities in their communities.”
Since 2008/09 CashBack has committed over £75 million to projects and organisations who work with young people, delivering more than 1.8 million activities and opportunities throughout the country.
Of the latest announcement, Ian McLaughlan chief executive of Youth Scotland said the money would allow his organisation to continue its Small Grants Scheme and Young People Taking the Lead (YPTTL) programme for another nine months.
“Both the Small Grants Scheme and Young People Taking the Lead programmes have exceeded expectations and targets, making a significant impact on grassroots youth groups in urban, rural and island communities throughout Scotland,” he said.
“Since 2013 almost 12,000 young leaders have been involved in the Young People Taking the Lead programme, supporting and developing the next generation of volunteers who will feed back into their local communities.
“The Small Grants Scheme also continues to be a success story, supporting more than 57,000 young people to participate in positive activities within their youth group setting.
“Both programmes are set to develop and grow, and we are grateful that CashBack for Communities funding enables us to promote and sustain volunteer-led youth work in Scotland.”
