A guid new year to everyone and our first blog of 2026 considers some long-term priorities for young people living throughout Scotland. This could be a pivotal year for Scotland and its public services and with our national elections coming up in May we need to ensure that young peoples futures are at the centre of government policy and that resources are committed to achieving their best potential as active and empowered citizens.
Scotland’s Youth Work Sector have recently published a manifesto entitled A Right, A Space, A Future which outlines three national commitments Scotland must make to ensure every young person can thrive through access to high-quality youth work. Together, they represent the foundation of a stronger, fairer youth work system: guaranteed by law, universally accessible, and sustained by investment.
The Three National Commitments:
- A Right – A Legal Right to Youth Work for All Young People
Every young person should have an entitlement in law to access youth work services, regardless of postcode, background, or income.
- A Space – Universal Access to Spaces for Youth Work
Guarantee free, fair, and consistent access to public spaces – such as schools, leisure centres, and community venues – for youth work providers, and create new, dedicated youth spaces in every community.
- A Future – Sustained and Increased Investment in Youth Work
Implement fair funding principles with ring-fenced, multi-year funding at both national and local level, rebuilding the workforce and ensuring long-term stability.
We are all to aware at SCYAP how precarious our funding base can be, especially as we await the outcome of our submission for continuation funding from the National Lottery. We should also acknowledge that our Project only exits because local community activists through the TTRO have given a voluntary commitment to supporting Youth Action in their local area and that this provision is essentially autonomous and self-financing. The notion therefore of youth work being a legal and statutory right for all young people would be a massive undertaking by government, however we also need to be honest about the type of Scotland we want to live in. If we want our young people and communities to thrive , be empowered , excellently educated , tackling massive issues like sustainability and climate change then we require our elected representatives to enable that through the right policy decisions and actions. A significant part of that would be the candidates for Mays Scottish General elections to respond positively to these three national commitments laid out in the manifesto and giving assurances of how they will support and progress these massive youth work commitments.
SCYAP is planning to meet with our MSPs and councillors in mid-February to progress these matters and we will support young people to be part of that process, and I will report on the outcomes of these meetings in next months blog.
Let’s ponder these comments:
Juliet Harris, Director, Together, the children’s rights alliance :
“Recognising youth work as a legal entitlement would be a vital step in delivering Scotland’s commitments under the UNCRC. It would ensure that every young person, wherever they live and whatever their background, has fair and equal access to the support they need to thrive.”
David Kennedy, General Secretary, Scottish Police Federation, :
“A single youth worker can do far more for a young person than any type of enforcement. That’s why ‘A Right, A Space, A Future matters, it’s about prevention, safety and hope. The Scottish Police Federation fully support this manifesto as we must have sustained investment in youth work.”
The full manifesto can be read here:
Young Person led Climate Action in January 2026
Standing up for and helping nature have been the key themes for the new year with our climate action groups at Carmuirs and Easter Carmuirs Primary Schools being out and about in the local parks and woodlands and quite often in very challenging weather conditions. Planting pollinator bulbs in Easter Carmuirs Park and the Tamfourhill woods along with making bird feeders from recycled plastic bottles and some toad abodes in the Well Wild Woods have been the key activities for this month. We are always keen to encourage creativity and the arts in all aspects of the SCYAP, so we very much enjoyed the pom poms workshops that were carried out by Sarah our community artist. This involved every young person attaching labels to their pom poms stating a personal commitment to take climate action, and these included: Planting a tree in the garden, organising a litter pick, using less plastic and having their own drinks bottles to avoid single use plastics.
New Opportunities with Youth Scotland
We are really pleased to have received resources and support from Youth Scotland to implement a couple of short-term projects with young people. Firstly, through a Grassroots Youth Work Award we have begun working with a group of P7 from Carmuirs primary School. This groupwork programme will be looking at risk taking and community safety issues and will also be an accredited programme with the young people gaining Dynamic Youth Awards. The programme kicked off at the Well Wild Project last Thursday with a session focused upon personal accountability.
Peer Mentoring Project:
In addition, we currently have a young volunteer undertaking his Gold Youth Achievement Award and this involves him delivering a Peer Mentoring Project. I have been supporting Leo throughout January to plan this programme with the delivery stage starting in mid-February. There will be a focus of looking at the transition from P7 to High School and a small group of mentees will travel this journey creatively over a five-week programme. Youth Scotland have provided training and resources for this Programme to happen, and this is an excellent example of how national and local collaborations can improve the lives for young people within their own communities.
Twilight Sports Winter Programme
The Programme continues through January and February every Friday from 6pm-8pm in Tamfourhill Community Hub , with Dr Bike in attendance on Friday 30th January and 20th February. Its all free for 10-16 year olds.
Safer Communities Youth Action Project 