A PROJECT CREATED by outdoor adventure group Outfit Moray has been shortlisted for funding from The Royal Bank of Scotland’s ‘Skills and Opportunities’ fund.
The fund aims to contribute £2.5million towards projects submitted by charities, social enterprises and community groups as well as state-funded schools and colleges throughout the UK and Ireland.
From thousands of projects submitted for funding, only a few are selected for a shortlist – and then the general public decides which projects are worthy of funding.
Five projects from the Borders and Central Scotland won funding earlier this year from the project – now Outfit Moray has made the final shortlist, with voting closing on Friday.
The Moray group hope to win funding for their ‘Ignite’ project, which will provide tailored and inspiration eight-week courses for young people aged between 16 and 18 who are lacking direction in their lives.
Speaking on behalf of the Lossiemouth-based group, Melanie Newbould explained: “The funding will help to build their confidence and motivation, increase their life and employability skills and help them to make positive and constructive choices about their futures.
“The courses will consist of a number of engaging workshops and experiences designed to inspire young people and help them to understand and best use their strengths and skills.
“We will work with young people throughout Moray, our project will be delivered at different locations in order to meet the needs of the young people taking part. Moray contains several areas within the top 20% of the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation and suffers particularly with youth unemployment and rural isolation.
“We will target young people within these areas by working directly with local secondary schools and Skills Development Scotland in order to identify young people who are struggling to find a direction in their lives. The disadvantages faced by the young people that we will be supporting include living in areas of social deprivation and rural isolation with a lack of employment and further education opportunities.”
The Moray project is the only selection from the north east competing for votes against nine projects in central Scotland and one based at Orkney College.
With voting ending on Friday, Outfit Moray are calling on people throughout their home region to lend their support to the bid. Melanie said: “Only through people taking the time to support us will be have a chance of emerging from the process with funding for our project.
“It would be wonderful if insideMoray readers could help us out by visiting the Skills and Opportunities Fund information and voting page – if we can gather sufficient support we have every chance of success.”