We are delighted to announce that RCET has received a grant of £29,247 from ABF The Soldiers’ Charity in support of our Youth Participation Programme this year.
The Soldiers’ Charity was instrumental in the launching of our Youth Participation Programme back in September 2018 and have supported us since. The Youth Participation Programme enables us to support Armed Forces children and young people to grow in confidence, develop their skills and access opportunities to have their say about decisions, policies and services that affect them. Over the last three years The Soldiers’ Charity has awarded RCET over £100,000 in support of our vital project supporting Armed Forces children to have their voices heard, and their experiences reflected by decisions & policies that affect them. We are delighted that The Soldiers’ Charity has continued its support for a third year running which will enable us to continue to be there for Armed Forces children and young people during the aftermath of the Coronavirus crisis and continued to make progress in areas that Armed Forces children and young people want to see improved.
As a result of The Soldiers’ Charity’s support, we have managed to successfully establish our Youth Participation Programme across Scotland. Some of the achievements of the Programme from the past three years include:
- The establishment of 7 local advisory groups across Scotland that work towards local action plans focused on the changes they want to achieve in their local community.
- The creation of Military Youth Voice Scotland – our National Forum – bringing together young people tri-service and from serving & veteran families across Scotland to build a plan on the positive changes that Armed Forces children would like to see happen on a national scale.
- The founding of a Military Youth Voice Co-ordinators Forum which brings together Community Development Workers from welfare services in order to provide support and best-practice in empowering youth voice.
- We have committed to having young people from our local Forums involved in our recruitment processes including at interview stage.
- Four successful Residentials where young people took part in skills-based training such as video-making, comic book and board game development and media and presentation training as well as fun team-based activities such as island-canoeing, treasure hunts and zip-lining.
Members from Military Youth Voice Scotland have praised the Youth Participation Programme for enabling them to meet fellow Armed Forces young people and have their voices heard.
Tiana Robbins states that, “This group has made me realise that you don’t have to go through everything alone, there are others that understand the situations you go through and to treasure the current and not live in the past or the future.”
Grace Liddle has praised the programme for similar reasons, saying that, “I have been given some amazing opportunities and most importantly [being part of the forum] has grown my confidence and helped me make some great friends.”
Moreover, 100% of the young people involved in the project have also said that they feel the programme is important to them.
Nina Collins, Youth Participation Manager said, “We are incredibly grateful to ABF: The Soldiers’ Charity for supporting our Youth Participation Programme for a third year running. Their support across this time has been critical in developing the Programme and we are delighted that they are continuing with us on this journey as we empower young people to make changes for the better for the Armed Forces community.”
Brigadier (Ret’d) Robin Bacon, Chief of Staff at ABF The Soldiers’ Charity adds: “For the third year in a row we are supporting the Royal Caledonian Educational Trust and for good reason. The charity is committed to ensuring that Scottish Armed Forces Children and Young People are enabled to reach their full potential, something which is vital throughout all stages of life but especially in the younger years. The Youth Participation Programme provides the children with a voice and a platform to share their ideas. We are very much looking forward to hearing about the positive changes that our Armed Forces young people make for their own community.”