Scottish charities LinkLiving and Turn2us have joined forces to support young people in Edinburgh in taking steps towards long-term financial stability.
LinkLiving’s Edinburgh Young Persons’ Service (EYPS) was asked to participate in Turn2us Edinburgh Trust’s three-year pilot grant programme, the Thriving Futures Fund, using the funding to help young people flourish through tailored support and financial aid.
In the first year of the grant, EYPS supported 24 young people in developing plans that kept their individual aspirations in focus and led to the achievement of their personal goals.
One young person supported was Maja, who was able to achieve her ambition of starting her own sustainable fashion brand ‘Devilish Fashion’.
Maja said: “I was unable to do a lot of the things that would help me grow my hobby into something bigger, like a small business. Thanks to the Thriving Futures Fund, I was able to take my hobby to the next level.”
AJ was also helped through the fund to realise his dream of running his own animal rescue and rehabilitation centre with a specialism in reptiles and now runs a Registered Social Enterprise in Edinburgh.
Sarah Smith, LinkLiving’s Chief Executive and Executive Director of Communities for Link Group, said: “The Thriving Futures Fund is built on an innovative and future-orientated approach to helping people thrive – a vision that complements LinkLiving’s commitment to person-centred support that aims for sustainable positive impacts built on compassion and ambition for the people it supports.
“We were delighted to be approached by Turn2us Edinburgh Trust and embraced the opportunity for the two charities to work collaboratively to address some of the issues our local communities face.”
