Strategy & Governance

Strategy & Ambitions

Changing Lives Through Community-Based Youth Work is our strategy to support and develop community-based youth work across Scotland.

Our Mission

is to support young people to achieve their full potential.

Our Vision

is a country which values community-based youth work and its impact on young people’s lives.

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Youth Scotland is ambitious for the impact which community-based youth work has in young people’s lives. Over the course of our previous strategy 2016-2019, we successfully renewed our commitment to a simple and unifying core purpose: to grow and develop community-based youth work.

This 2020-2023 strategy builds on our established and ongoing successes. Our strategy to grow and develop community-based youth work is built on four supporting pillars: Supporting Our Member Youth Groups; Training Volunteers and Youth Workers; Youth Leadership and National Programmes; and Accredited Youth Awards.

Our four pillars

1. Supporting Our Member Youth Groups. Our ambition is for all young people, regardless of their circumstances, to benefit from high quality community-based youth work through the Youth Scotland network.
2. Youth Leadership and National Programmes. Our ambition is for young people across all 32 Local Authorities to have the opportunity to grow and develop their everyday leadership skills through iLead and other youth participation projects.
3. Training Volunteers and Youth Workers. Our ambition is to establish ourselves as the leading provider of training and capacity-building for the youth work sector in Scotland, improving the skills and confidence of those who are supporting young people.
4. Accredited Youth Awards. Our ambition is that we will create more opportunities for young people to achieve and gain accreditation for their learning through Hi5, Dynamic Youth Awards and Youth Achievement Awards at SCQF levels 2–7. This will support national efforts to close the poverty related attainment gap and increase young people’s skills for learning, work and life.

We are pleased that young people, volunteers, youth workers, Area Associations, Youth Scotland staff and our Board of Trustees have all fed into this strategy. Based on this, we are encouraged and confident of Youth Scotland’s role in the sector and the future we have in partnership with our national network of community-based youth work.

Download a copy of our strategy below.

Governance

Youth Scotland is a registered charity and company limited by guarantee, registered in Scotland, and governed by a board of elected and co-opted trustees.

Youth Scotland is a charity with a solid governance structure, including a board of elected and co-opted trustees and detailed Articles of Association. From those:

The Charity’s objects are to assist young people in Scotland to be confident, resilient and ready to reach their full potential; the Charity will aim to achieve this by supporting a network of youth groups and delivering services which help young people to learn, succeed and make positive contributions to their communities. You can download a copy of our Articles of Association below.

Youth Scotland registered office: Balfour House, 19 Bonnington Grove, Edinburgh EH6 4BL.

A company limited by guarantee. Registered in Scotland No.125456. Scottish Charity No. SC000501.

Our ICO registration number is: Z479109X.

Youth Scotland is proud to be a Living Wage employer.

Youth Scotland has opted to meet the UK Living Wage of £9.30ph, above the UK Government’s ‘national living wage’ of £8.21ph.

Why Pay a Real Living Wage That Meets the Costs of Living?
The Living Wage Foundation describe the main reason to be an accredited employer as, “Living Wage employers are committed to going above & beyond for their employees. For them, being a responsible employer means every one of their employees earning a wage that is independently calculated to be enough for them & their families to live on, not just the government minimum. At the heart of the Living Wage movement is the simple idea that a fair day’s work deserves a fair day’s pay. “

Further information
If you’d like to find out more about the benefits of paying the Living Wage, and to find out how it is calculated, please go here.

For more information on why employers should consider going the extra mile and becoming an accredited Living Wage Employer please go here.

You can find a full list of accredited Living Wage Employers based in Scotland here.

Annual Accounts

You can view and download a copy of our audited annual accounts 2021-22 below.