Moray pupils secure £21,000 for local charities through Wood Foundation philanthropy programme
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SECONDARY school pupils in Moray have boosted local charities by £21,000 this year through their involvement in the Youth and Philanthropy Initiative (YPI).
Seven of the region's schools took part in The Wood Foundation programme which sees young people work in teams to identify social issues impacting their communities and the charities addressing them.
The teams then develop creative presentations in a bid to secure their school’s £3000 grant.
The top three social issues securing YPI funding this year were support for those facing health and disability conditions, services to address mental health and wellbeing, and action to tackle poverty in Scotland’s communities.
The charities supported by local schools were: Buckie High School – Moray School Bank; Elgin High School – Outfit Moray; Forres Academy – Forres and District Men's Shed; Gordonstoun School – Riding for the Disabled Moray; Lossiemouth High School – Friendly Access; Milne's High School – CLAN Moray; and Speyside High School – Speyside Youth.
The Wood Foundation, established by its chairman, oil tycoon Sir Ian Wood, and his family in 2007, is a venture philanthropic organisation committed to addressing social inequity and investing in developing young people in Scotland, as well as economic investment in the UK and East Africa.
The YPI education programme, which encourages young people to be empathetic active citizens, is managed and majority funded by the foundation and is supported by a network of funding partners.
Ali MacLachlan, UK director at The Wood Foundation, said: "Young people raising awareness of social issues and ensuring this vital funding reached communities at a time of acute need is so important.
"We are incredibly proud of the dedication and commitment shown by schools and students to ensure this important learning and funding opportunity continued with such vigour despite all the challenges of the school year from Covid-19.
"Giving young people a platform and a voice to lead their learning and make a difference to the issues they saw first-hand locally took on additional significance in a year when so much autonomy was taken away.
"We have been blown away by many of the presentations and have great hope that our young people are an exciting force for change."
Nationally, 220 schools took part in the programme this year channelling £660,000 to charities.
