ProjectScotland

At ProjectScotland we believe that every young person has a lot to offer society which is why, since 2005, we have been supporting young people aged 16-30 to develop the confidence and skills to move into employment, training or education. We work with young people who have complex needs and/or multiple barriers to inclusion, and who have often not had any experience of maintaining a job, seeing a course through, or gaining qualifications. This is not because they don’t want to, but because they face problems like homelessness, drug and alcohol abuse, low self-esteem, communication difficulties, anger management challenges, lack of confidence and mental health issues. The basis of our programme is a personalised development plan for each young person, which includes a 13 week volunteer placement with a local charity and one-to-one mentoring for up to a year, as well as ongoing support from their main contact, the Youth Engagement Manager, in each area. This model has worked well, benefitting the young people, the charities and the local communities. Our placements have demonstrated that significant shifts are achievable through our high-intensity personalised engagement, and our responsive wrap-around support. The ability to develop and maintain a long engagement with young people enables us to become deeply involved in helping them move on and progress to a more stable, positive lifestyle. They trust us not to let them down and to stay with them while they rebuild their life and develop self-esteem and confidence.