The Larder Receives A Young Start Award From The National Lottery Community Fund

Thanks to financial support from The National Lottery Community Fund, The Larder are due to open their Realising Potential, Stage 1 Employability Programme ‘Power to Grow’ on 19th July 2021.

This programme will provide longer-term, holistic support for disadvantaged young people in West Lothian with the most severe, multiple and complex barriers to attainment, supporting them to engage with education, employment and training.

We will be offering a 15-week programme for young people aged 16-17, training in skills for life and work in partnership with specialists, West Lothian College and West Lothian Council. Training offered will cover health and wellbeing, outdoor fitness, food preparation, cooking, nutrition and preparing for work.

For young people leaving school COVID has disrupted their learning, destabilised their home lives and created huge uncertainty about their future. Some were already struggling to attend school or access other educational opportunities due to their situation or were not achieving as highly as they could have with more settled circumstances. Help at this critical moment can prevent a lifetime of interventions and support, putting these young people on a path to a fulfilling and productive life.

The Larder, Training Manager, Garry Walker: said: “We were over the moon to receive a two-year Young Start Award from the National Lottery Community Fund. Our Realising Potential project ‘Power to Grow’ will support young people with multiple barriers to engage with further education, training and employment”.

The National Lottery Community Fund, Scotland Chair, Kate Still: said: “This funding will give a huge boost to thousands of young people across Scotland helping them to build key skills and confidence for the future. I would like to congratulate The Larder on their award which is testament to the incredible efforts of their staff and the young people they work with.  We are always keen to support projects which put Scotland’s young people at the heart of the development and running of services. If your group has an idea how you would make this happen, then we’d love to hear from you.”

If you know someone who may benefit from this project, please contact The Larder via training@thelarder.org to register your interest.