Glasgow 2014: 1000 youth volunteer roles revealed
The scheme will see 1,000 jobless Scots, aged 16-24, will be offered part-time volunteering opportunity at sporting and cultural events such as the World Pipe Band Championship, the Gymnastics World Cup and Celtic Connections.
Mr Salmond launched the programme during a Scottish Apprenticeship Week visit to the Glasgow Emirates Arena and said it was a “terrific opportunity” for youngsters to get experience.
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Hide Ad“Not only will these 1,000 young Scots get the chance to volunteer in some globally-prominent sporting and cultural events, they will be making active progress on their own futures – undergoing training that will help them get, stay or progress in education or employment,” he said.
“Scotland’s Best will build on the extremely encouraging progress we are making on youth unemployment, with official statistics released last week demonstrating that the number of jobless young people in Scotland is continuing to fall and the number entering employment is rising.”
Last week, official statistics revealed Scotland had seen the largest quarterly rise in employment on record, with 54,000 more people in work in this country in the three month period to March 2013 and a 7,000 drop in unemployment.
Scotland’s Best is backed by £2.4 million from the Scottish Government’s Legacy 2014 Young Person’s Fund and will give participants a qualification at SCQF level 4.
The young people involved in the Scotland’s Best programme will remain eligible to collect benefits as they will be engaged for less than 16 hours a week. Participants travel and subsistence expenses will be supported by the training providers.
Martin Crewe, Director of Barnardo’s Scotland, backed the initiative.
“We firmly believe that through Scotland’s Best we will open up more volunteering opportunities for our young people, and as a result help them to fulfill their ambitions in the work place,” he said.
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