Highland charity Inspiring Young Voices secures £60 boost for life-changing work
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A HIGHLAND organisation giving a voice to young people has been awarded £60,000 for its life-changing work.
Inspiring Young Voices got the cash from lottery funded Young Start, which helps young Scots achieve their full potential.
The project, run by Inspire Highland, brings 300 young people together to bring often sensitive, but important, topics into conversation. This includes period education in schools, sight loss, youth LGBT+ issues, autism awareness and abuse within relationships.
Lil Clark (21) from Alness was diagnosed with depression and anxiety at the age of 16. She was also bullied at school.
“Growing up in a small town, if you’re different from other kids your age, it’s easy to feel isolated and alone,” she said. “At Inspiring Young Voices, I met so many other people my age who also felt alone. That empowered me to use my voice to speak out about bullying and mental health issues and has given me enough confidence to begin my career.
“I even worked up the courage to visit the USA by myself, and although it was terrifying to begin with, I haven’t got rid of the travel bug since!”
Sandra Brown, chief officer at Inspiring Young Voices, said the funding would be used to continue to develop its work with children and young people with disabilities and/or additional support needs.
“Over the past three years our project has been led by the young people who make it what it is,” she said. “Our mission is to support them not only to raise their voices about the obstacles which society puts in their way, but also about how they want to overcome them.
“We want to be able to develop the project to be truly young-person led and also to involve more young people with unique experiences and challenges.
“Thanks to this Young Start funding, this will all be possible.”
