Through Young Start, Big Lottery Fund are offering funding from £10,000 to £100,000 to help children and young people across Scotland become more confident, so they can realise their own potential. They want to fund work that achieves at least one of the following three outcomes:
- children and young people have better physical, mental and emotional wellbeing
- children and young people have better connections with the wider community
- children and young people get access to new skills and training opportunities which will help them to get a new job or start a business.
Big Lottery Fund also believe that the following three approaches are vital in making sure that their funding makes the biggest difference possible. They want to fund work that is:
- people-led – meaningfully involving the young people you’re working with in the development, design and delivery of your activity
- strengths-based – making the most of, and building on, the skills and experiences of young people and assets within communities
- connected – having a good understanding of what others are doing locally, developing good working relationships and complementing and adding value to other relevant activity in your area.
Young Start in August re-opened in 2018 after taking some time to review and reshape the fund. During this time Big Lottery Fund have made some changes to Young Start based on feedback from applicants, grant holders and the wider youth sector. The biggest changes are that BLF will now fund projects for up to three years, and they have raised the maximum grant size to £100,000, though they are keen to spread their funding as best they can so they still expect to fund many projects below the maximum amount. They would also like to talk to you about your ideas before sending you an application form, and over time they are aiming to involve young people more in how they deliver this funding.
**Applications may be submitted at any time**
More info here