148 | UK Enterprise Awards 2022 YMCA Scotland really local, but being part of a worldwide movement also makes it global. Young people from local communities get lots of opportunities to be part of something bigger – at Scotland, UK, European, and world levels – by participating in conferences, summits, and other events. For example, World YMCA is one of the recognised youth organisations by the United Nations and has official observer status. This means it is able to have young people from local communities in Scotland attending COP26 in Glasgow as official observers, along with other YMCA young people from around the world. Scotland’s youth have particularly benefited from YMCA in recent years with the pandemic and cost of living crisis. 80% of Scotland’s YMCAs work in the top 10% areas of multiple deprivation in the country, meaning its staff and volunteers see first-hand the impact of such crises. Poverty and lack of opportunity are the biggest concerns and YMCA spends a lot of its summer and school holiday programmes ensuring that children and families have access to free and affordable food, when free school meals are not available. YMCA Scotland has also seen an increase in mental health concerns amongst young people, and its teams have used their learning and expertise from its award-winning Plusone Mentoring programme to create a new mentoring programme called Y’sGirls mentoring, which supports young girls’ mental health and wellbeing. YMCA Scotland has collaborated with other YMCAs across the UK and Ireland to replicate and scale this programme. YMCA Scotland feels privileged to be based in a developed country like the UK, with good infrastructure, healthcare and welfare system. It sees part of its role as being able to support young people and communities to exercise that YMCA Scotland is an inclusive Christian youth organisation open to people of all faiths and none. It provides a national voice and identity for its federation of 28 locally autonomous YMCAs that work across Scotland in over 100 communities. Striving to ensure that its community-based services are open and accessible to all at the point of delivery, its services are offered to those who need them most, in a non-judgemental and supportive manner. In Scotland, YMCA works with 10,000 children, young people and families every week, harnessing the support and engagement of thousands of staff and volunteers. A member of the World Alliance of YMCAs, YMCA Scotland’s vision and mission are aligned with the global YMCA movement. The vision is a world where every person lives in harmony with self, with society and with creation. The mission is to empower young people and communities to build a just, sustainable, equitable, and inclusive Scotland, where every person can thrive in body, mind, and spirit. YMCA Scotland supports its youth and families through a wide range of programmes, which include: • open access youth work including drop-ins and youth clubs • targeted youth work supporting young people around key issues such as youth offending, mental health and wellbeing, educational attainment, and employability skills • afterschool childcare services and summer play provision • youth mentoring programme focused on early intervention and prevention (crime and mental health) • sports programmes • digital youth work • housing provision for homeless young people • outdoor learning and community gardening projects; • community food initiatives including foodbanks and pantries • family support programmes With YMCA being embedded in local communities and having a federated model, local people can manage and set the agenda for YMCA work in their communities. This makes Best Inclusive Christian Youth Organisation - Scotland Jun22236 privilege well and to ensure that if it is to achieve its global vision, it doesn’t leave other people and nations behind. In Scotland specifically, YMCA benefits from the Scottish Government-endorsed National Youth Work strategy and national core funding for work with children and young people. It also benefits from having a very well-established and well-respected Scottish Youth Parliament that influences decision making (free travel for all young people under 25 and voting age reduced to 16) and provides a pathway for young people to engage in democracy and decision making. YMCA Scotland is proud that two of its young people have been elected as Members of the Scottish Youth Parliament. Now, YMCA Scotland has secured funding for a three-year Life Changes Trust Legacy project to develop Digital Maker spaces for care-experienced young people in communities across Scotland. The project, called Tek Care, is a partnership with Barnardos Scotland, Renfrewshire Council, Scottish Tech Army, Mohr Collective, and Youthlink Scotland. YMCA Scotland is a lead partner and it is excited to be launching a new job opportunity for a project coordinator to lead this programme that will create digital learning and digital enterprise opportunities for care-experienced young people. It has also just adopted its new strategy called Vision 2030 which is aligned with the new YMCA Global Strategy. This is the first time there has been such alignment around the world for this federated movement and YMCA Scotland is excited to see where it leads. Company: YMCA Scotland Contact: Kerry Reilly Email: kerry@ymca.scot Website: www.ymca.scot
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