The Boys’ Brigade set to receive part of £400,000 funding

Justice Secretary Michael Matheson paid a visit to The Boys’ Brigade headquarters at Carronvale House in Larbert last Friday (5 Feb) to announce over £400,000 of additional funding for youth projects across Scotland.

The money, which has been seized from criminals through the Proceeds of Crime Act and reinvested as part of the Cashback for Communities Programme, will be shared amongst The Boys’ Brigade and five other youth organisations.

Mr Matheson said:

“I am extremely pleased to be able to announce this additional funding for these very deserving youth organisations, run primarily by volunteers.

“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.

“We want all of Scotland’s young people to be confident individuals, effective contributors and responsible citizens and I believe that today’s event shows that we have already made great progress in making this vision a reality.”

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.

Previously, The Boys’ Brigade has used its share of the funding to pay for new equipment such as technology, tents and sports equipment across groups in Scotland and will use this funding for helping deliver programmes to its members.

Bill Stevenson, Director of The Boys’ Brigade in Scotland, said:

“CashBack for Communities has really helped The Boys’ Brigade, as it has other organisations, and I’m delighted Mr Matheson has expressed his support at Carronvale House, our national Headquarters in Scotland.

He added:

“Part of this funding will go towards the Small Grants Scheme which supports our local volunteer-led groups to enhance their programmes for young people. The funding will also support the Young People Taking the Lead programme that helps develop young people as volunteer leaders and community contributors, as well as giving them a voice, which is all very much at the heart of what The Boys’ Brigade does.”

Since 2013, almost 12,000 young leaders across the six organisations have been involved in the Young People Taking the Lead programme. It is set to receive £204,512 in funding from today’s announcement.

The Small Grants Scheme has supported over 57,000 young people to participate in positive activities within their young group setting and will be awarded £207,763 from the Cashback for Communities programme.

Natalie Davidson