Charities celebrating thanks to Highland pupils’ generosity

YOUNG Highland philanthropists have secured £72,000 for a local charity of their choice after taking part in the Youth Philanthropy Initiative, ( YPI) Scotland’s Festival of Philanthropy, writes Ellie Forbes.

All but three Highland schools took part in the event on Tuesday June 21 at Perth Concert Hall, where winning teams celebrated their success.

YPI’s citizenship programme raises awareness among young people about philanthropy, and grants thousands of pounds each year to charities decided by the high schools who take part.

Each school receives £ 3,000 to give to their chosen charity, and this year Highland schools that won included Kinlochleven, Lochaber, Mallaig, Plockton and Portree.

These schools have chosen to support a variety of charities, including Mallaig and District swimming pool, Highland Disability Sport and Rag Tag ‘n’ Textile in Kyle of Lochalsh.

Highland Disability Sport told The Oban Times: ‘ We are absolutely delighted to have been selected to receive £ 3,000 from Lochaber High School through the Youth Philanthropy Initiative.

‘ The money has already allowed us to host the first in a series of sports events in the Lochaber area, which we hope will encourage children with disabilities to become physically active through sports participation.’

Since its introduction in Scotland by the Wood Foundation in 2008, the YPI programme has seen the number of schools involved from across Scotland grow from 10 to 195 and has granted more than £1.9million to small, local Scottish charities.

Nearly £ 600,000 in funding was granted in this academic year alone.

Talking about the event, Sir Ian Wood, chairman of The Wood Foundation said: ‘ Our annual YPI Scotland National Event is a great celebration of the huge achievements of these young people from across Scotland over the last 12 months, with a number of the winning schools highlighting some very exciting projects.

‘ In the past year, 195 small charities across Scotland will each have received £ 3,000, but more importantly a significant number of the 26,000 youngsters involved have undergone a mind- set change understanding the challenges in their community and realising that they can actually do something to contribute.’

Jim Steven, Highland Council’s Head of Education said: ‘ This session, hundreds of Highland secondary pupils in 24 schools from Kinlochbervie to Kinlochleven have worked with a wide range of local charities to raise awareness of the important work going on in their communities.’