Knots and Crosses Youth Club (KCYC) run by local charity Strengthening Communities for Race Equality Scotland (SCOREscotland) is celebrating £5,000 of funding. The money is coming from Corra Foundation and will help pay the staff who run the programme.
Becky Leach, one of SCORE Scotland’s Youth and Children’s Development Officers, said: “Knots and Crosses Youth Club provides fun activities in Wester Hailes for young people aged 8 to 18. It is primarily aimed at young people from black and minority ethnic (BME) communities, but participants come from all different backgrounds, including white Scottish. We aim to reduce isolation, increase confidence, improve health and wellbeing and support the young people to deal with the issues which affect their lives, for example racism, bullying and domestic abuse.
Around 100 young people aged 8 to 18 attend the club each year. All activities are free for young people to attend and include basketball, football, dance, photography, cycling, canoeing and kayaking, arts and crafts and healthy cooking.
Mary Craig OBE, Chief Executive of Corra Foundation, said: “Building strong relationships with these local youngsters is vital so they have someone they can talk to if they are struggling. There are some obvious issues children from the BME community face, including language barriers, but others that are less obvious are just as real and children are much more likely to confide in someone they trust. Helping the young people in Wester Hailes has a knock on effect on their families, and this brings benefits to everyone in the local community.”
This is SCOREscotland’s second award since 2012. The next deadline for other charities applying for funding is Monday 17th March.
