Meeting of the Parliament 12 June 2014
I am delighted to speak in the debate. I refer members to my entry in the register of members’ interests, as I will highlight the work of Ocean Youth Trust Scotland.
We have heard a lot about how cashback for communities has helped our communities across Scotland. We know how beneficial it can be. The Scottish Government’s announcement yesterday of funding for more 3G pitches across the country, including pitches in Paisley in West Scotland, highlights how the scheme can turn a negative situation—crime—into a positive. We can all agree that obtaining the assets from ill-gotten gains is positive and that, unfortunately, they will continue to be a part of society. There will always be people who think that the law does not apply to them, but I hope that obtaining those ill-gotten gains and investing them wisely can provide some recompense to society.
I particularly like investment in providing young people with opportunities. From looking at the evaluation report, it is clear to me that there has been an improvement in the scheme because of the processes that were introduced in 2011, as paragraph 26 points out. Paragraph 27 says that the evaluation continues and that there is
“an increasingly strong focus on outcomes.”
Furthermore, paragraph 28 points out that, as a consequence of the evaluation,
“project partners have increased their understanding that more needs to be done to engage some young people”.
I will take the opportunity to highlight the work of the Ocean Youth Trust Scotland, for which I am an ambassador and for which the slogan is “Adventure under sail”. I have met a number of young people who have undertaken a voyage with the OYTS, and I have been delighted to hear their thoughts after their voyage. I am struck by the equalities impact of sailing. The OYTS provides voyages for young people from all communities in Scotland, including for those who have disabilities.
Through the £72,320 that the OYTS has received from cashback for communities, 177 young people have had an opportunity to do something different. They have been given an opportunity to get involved in a scheme that really takes people out of their comfort zone and helps them to build self-confidence and self-esteem. Those 177 young people came from a variety of locations across the country—Inverclyde, Renfrewshire, East Renfrewshire, East Ayrshire, South Lanarkshire, East Dunbartonshire, Falkirk and Aberdeen. Many of them were referred by another body, such as a youth project, Engage Renfrewshire or a local authority community learning and development department.
I will read two quotes that I have found to be probably the most useful in defining how beneficial cashback for communities has been. The first is from Emma Noble, a group leader with the Prince’s Trust, who says:
“The experience certainly had an impact on them. I was able to see personal development outcomes over 5 days that would have taken 5 weeks in a classroom environment.”
She goes on to say:
“The group are just back from work placements; they’ve been a massive success and a lot of that stems from their OYT trip. They applied the skills they learned with OYT and some have now been given job placements. One lad has since been on OYT’s bosun training to become a volunteer. He was the quiet wee mouse of the group and biggest turn around.”
The second quote is from Thomas James, a project development worker with the positive alternatives project, who says:
“I learned that young people can achieve amazing things if given a chance.”
He goes on to say:
“Please continue to support OYTS as the trips they provide are an amazing opportunity that the young people I work with would never be able to pursue or achieve.”
Those two quotes highlight to me the positive features of the OYTS and of the cashback for communities moneys.