Armed forces charity receives funding windfall
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A CHARITY which supports armed forces children has been given a cash boost for work in Moray and neighbouring Highland.
The Royal Caledonian Education Trust will use the £60,000 from the Paul Hamlyn Foundation to expand its Youth Participation Programme in the area over the next two years.
That will enable staff to work with armed forces children and young people, supporting them to share their experiences about military life and empowering them to enact positive changes.
Nationally, more than 600 children and young people have been able to share their experiences of military life thanks to the programme.
That's seen the establishment of a network of seven local advisory groups, all feeding into a National Youth Participation Forum which works to deliver a national action plan.
In Moray, armed forces children can face a range of issues which they say can be barriers to reaching their full potential in their education and in life. By the time they reach secondary school, the average child has already been in four of five schools across different countries and curriculums.
Children in Moray have said they struggle with making friends, coping with new school systems and examinations and dealing with parental deployments. That can have a significant impact on their confidence, wellbeing and ability to progress in school.
The funding will be used to support the recruitment of a local youth participation project worker, who will provide a more hands-on level of support to the charity's youth participation groups in Lossiemouth and Inverness. That's now underway and information can be found on the trust's website – www.rcet.org.uk.
The trust's chief executive Colin Flinn said: "We believe wholeheartedly that listening to the views of armed forces children, and empowering them to improve the experiences of future generations of their own community is the best way to deliver real long-term change that will help all armed forces children to reach their full potential. We are most grateful to Paul Hamlyn Foundation for joining us on this journey."
Ruth Pryce, of the Paul Hamlyn Foundation, said: "Funding for the Royal Caledonian Education Trust’s Youth Participation Programme will expand the reach of this important work, ensuring children and young people are supported and that their voices and experiences shape the changes needed for them to reach their potential. We look forward to working with RCET and learning with them as the initiative grows."
Established in 1815, the RCET's vision is that every armed forces child and young person in Scotland has the opportunity to achieve, thrive and reach their full potential.
