Young Grantmakers

Our strand of youth participation programmes that upskill young people as Young Grantmakers, supporting them to design funds and make decisions on who to support.

Two young people stand in front of a whiteboard, laughing.

About Young Grantmakers

Our Young Grantmakers programmes train young people to understand the grant-making process, design the fund and priorities, and take on a decision-making role. The programme follows the iLead Pathway, building everyday leadership skills and giving young people the confidence to meaningfully take part in discussions and make decisions. The programme can be adapted to different funds with different priorities. Young people’s learning is accredited with a Dynamic Youth Award (SCQF Level 3). Below you can read more about past Young Grantmakers projects.

Glas-glow Up

In 2021-22, the National Lottery Community Fund commissioned Youth Scotland to design and deliver a participatory grant-making pilot project in Glasgow. The aim was to give young people an opportunity to identify and fund initiatives to tackle anti-social behaviour within their local communities. Youth Scotland’s role in this programme was to: recruit participants aged 13-25 from four areas of Glasgow; train these young people to understand the grant-making process,  design the fund and priorities, and take on a decision-making role. A total of £40,000 was awarded to 10 successful applicants. 

Henry Duncan Grants

In 2022 Youth Scotland was commissioned to train and facilitate a Youth Panel for Corra Foundation’s Henry Duncan Grants, to decide on how to administer £900,000 of funding aimed at improving the lives of young people across Scotland with over 60 applicants. 

Step into the Arts

In partnership with Creative Scotland in 2023, Youth Scotland recruited and trained a panel of Young Grantmakers to deliver a youth-led arts fund to support young people’s creative development. They created ‘Step into the Arts‘, open to those aged 5 – 25, with the aim of providing opportunities and support for young people to get involved in the arts, especially young people who might not usually be able to access them. The fund received over 100 applications, and the Young Grantmakers 45 successful projects and distributed £65,000 to young people and across Scotland. 

UNCRC Innovation Fund

In 2023 Youth Scotland partnered with Corra to facilitate the youth panel for the Scottish Government’s UNCRC Innovation Fund, the value of which was £500,000. The Fund was designed to support activities which contribute to a Scotland where children’s rights are respected, protected and fulfilled. It was open to public authorities who wanted to develop a child’s rights-based approach and embed children’s rights into culture, policy and practice. Youth Scotland recruited and trained a panel of young people who had participated in previous grantmaking activities. The panel were supported to put together a shortlist of recommendations for the government to fund, and will also be involved in reviewing mid term reports of successful applicants.

Find out more

If you would like to hear more about our Young Grantmakers programmes, or discuss contracting us as the youth participation partner for a fund you are running, please contact Jo MacDonald, our Head of Programmes and Business Development.

Contact us

Young Grantmakers Reports

Glas-glow Up Young Grantmakers Evaluation Report
PDF, 865 KB
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A group of young people and youth workers stand in circle a gymnasium, tossing colourful balloons in the air.

Other Programmes

Check out our other youth participation programmes at the link below.

Youth Participation Programmes