Speyside Youth project secures ongoing support

The initial three-year award was extended for a further three years in 2024 to demonstrate an ongoing commitment to the provision of opportunities for young people in the fund area. The award of £67,000 over three years provides around a third of the total project delivery costs. 

The main expense is staff salaries, and there is also a cost of venue hire at Dufftown Community Centre and a budget for additional activities.  The long-term funding commitment allows the charity to operate strategically and develop as required. The project is also supported by the William Grant Foundation, National Lottery and other charitable trusts.

The services provided by Speyside Youth help young people to meet and mix with new people, learn group work and other skills such as running events, community involvement, training opportunities and participating as a Youth Committee member. As well as the regular Youth Café sessions for young people between school years P7 and S3, there is an activity programme which helps to develop confidence in young people and provides opportunities they may not otherwise be able to access. And of course, it is generally fun and sociable.

Speyside Youth also works with Speyside High School every year to help the feeder primary school pupils make a smooth transition to secondary education. This includes activity days with Outfit Moray, the annual Step Out At Speyside transition event, and the SHS Lunch Hub.

The team of youth workers who are employed to run the Youth Café enable young people to develop holistically, working with them to facilitate their personal, social and educational development, to enable them to develop their voice, influence and place in society and to reach their full potential. The organisation is youth-led so members vote and make suggestions for projects and activities via their eight-member youth committee, who either volunteer or are assigned tasks and projects based on their strengths and interests.

Members and youth committee reps are encouraged to volunteer at local events to help them learn skills and support the wider community. Speyside Youth staff also offer 1-1 support to young people and their families, which has become more of a focus recently due to the increase in mental health pressures. 

Elaine Clarke, the Chair of Speyside Youth, said:

“Challenges within Youthwork seem to be ever-changing and at a faster rate than before and within this climate, it seems vitally important to be strategic as a charity in responding to the needs of young people whilst upholding and caring for the wellbeing of the Youthwork team. As an initial response to this challenge, we have put into place additional, more supportive resources for Youth workers. This has included 3 relief Youth Workers being given permanent contracts to build a more consistent and secure team and to provide security for the Youth Workers. We have also sourced a trained counsellor to provide an external support and supervision service for the Youth Development worker to provide a much-needed sounding board.”

Feedback from the young people themselves demonstrates the importance of the service and the transformational impact it can deliver:

“I started SY at 11 as a punter, very shy, quiet, and usually stuck to a smaller group or if they weren’t there, I would just chill by myself. Now I am more confident, much more sociable and developed a lot more skills through training within youth work. I never thought I’d get this far. I had lacked confidence for many years and don’t think younger me would ever be able to comprehend how I became chair of the youth committee.”

“I started at age 11 and was a punter for 3 years, later joining Youth Com for 3 years and gaining volunteer hours. Now I am back as a Young Volunteer at 19 years old. SY has been a big part of my life. As well as doing Youth Club I am doing my PDA in Youth Work. SY has been a place very close to me from starting. I have gained skills, qualifications, responsibility, and leadership which has came with me in most of my occupations, especially now which is a respite day centre for adults with Learning Disabilities and also a Youth Theatre company.”

Youth work services are severely limited, particularly in more rural areas, so Speyside Youth are an excellent resource for the community, benefitting around 45 teenagers each week and hundreds of young people every year.

Find out more about the Dorenell Wind Farm Community Benefit Fund here.