02 Think Big
Youth Scotland has recently been getting involved with O2’s new programme for young people, called Think Big.
What is it?
Think Big is a new social action project that supports young people to make a positive difference in their local communities.
It is being run by mobile phone company O2 in partnership with UK Youth and the National Youth Agency. Youth Scotland is supporting the programme in Scotland.
The programme provides the opportunity for young people to receive a grant of £300 to help them to develop a project that will make a positive impact in their local community. If they are successful, young people will have the opportunity to attend a day’s training to help them develop the skills they will need to deliver their projects.
Successful groups will also be invited to apply for a further £2,500 grant towards their project.
Who is eligible?
Young people aged 13-25 are eligible to apply for funding, either by themselves or in a group.
What sorts of projects have been awarded funding?
There are some fantastic projects from across Scotland that have already received funding. These include:
· Sew Crafty – a creative arts and crafts group for young people not in education, employment or training
· Foodcyle Edinburgh – a project that aims to transform waste food from supermarkets into nutritious meals in a community kitchen
· Sound skills – a project using music technology to help integrate young people with mental health and behavioural issues into the local community
· Addiction Dance – a Dumfries-based group that will be running Hip-Hip and Street Dance classes for local young people
· Fife Youth Radio – a group that are setting up their own radio station, complete with an interactive guide to what’s on for young people in the local area.
For more information about these, and other projects, visit the O2 Think Big website where each project has their very own cloud to tell you more!
How do young people apply?
You can support the young people you work with to get involved by helping them to come up with an idea that will make a positive difference to their own community.
Young people can apply online at the Think Big website.
What support is available?
Before applying for a project, young people can watch a video and read more information about previous projects by visiting www.o2thinkbig.co.uk/Get-Inspired/ or by having a look at some of the projects described above.
Once the project has been accepted the young people involved will be invited to attend a one day training event, which Youth Scotland delivers, to support them to get their project up and running.
Trained O2 members of staff are also on hand to provide answers to any questions throughout the project.
Groups are also encouraged to post their plan, milestones and news of the project onto a specially designed web-page, with the facility to link this to facebook and twitter sites.
Get more information
There is lots of information on the O2 Think Big website. You can also contact Philip Ritchie, Youth Participation Development Worker at Youth Scotland if you would like to find out more about the programme. Email: philip.ritchie@youthscotland.org.uk or call 0131 554 2561.