The Young Start programme, funded by The National Lottery Community Fund Scotland, has enabled a group of young people over the past two years to work together as a group to build their skills, knowledge and expertise; by developing themselves they have developed opportunities for others.
The Young Start programme enables:
- The transition from athlete to coach to enable sport to continue to make a difference in the lives of the young people and those they work with. As well as empowering the young people through developing their confidence and competence to deliver key messages and shape the future for participants and performers in Scotland.
- The access to mentoring to strengthen life skills for future opportunities in a variety of settings.
- The Young People to grow as individuals and as a group, develop new ideas and influence
- The Young Persons Sport Panel to work collectively with the Coach Apprentice Programme to share, learn from each other, support one another and drive forward change.
It is really exciting to report back on the impacts of the programme and appreciate how much all the young people both individually and collectively have flourished.
The following video encompasses the impact of the programme https://youtu.be/X_5UwSRT4RQ
The impact and celebration event was skilfully led by the Young Start Ambassador, Aileen Neilson who enabled all the participants on the day to:
- Share their individual stories which were insightful and motivational
- Have fun being involved in different activities.
Aileen closed the session by acknowledging and thanking the young people for their positive and proactive approach. She also recognised and thanked the programme mentors and the programme coordinator, Victoria Clark and it is only fitting to thank Aileen who contributes so much in her ambassadorial role and is an inspirational role model.
It truly is a time to celebrate and applaud the varied and positive journeys of the young individuals involved in the Young Start Programme who are inspirational.