An inspiring West Lothian teen has been awarded £10,000 to help her develop her non-profit organisation that helps neurodiverse young people find support and friendship.
Kaydi Scottsville, 15, from Livingston, won the international prize and secured the large funding after entering the Bright Future Prize 2022 which is organised by the Ardonagh Community Trust (ACT). She achieved this inspiring feat whilst up against 13-19-year-olds from around the world.
Kaydi won the ‘Your Community’ category by showcasing her non-profit, Diversified. Diversified began as a platform that would sell affordable sensory toys before it became a fully-fledged charity that has online and face-to-face programmes that help neurodiverse teens and their families find support.
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The charity recently unveiled a day service that helps teens who are unable to attend school. She hopes that the money earned through the competition will allow her to set up a physical home in Livingston.
Kaydi left school at the age of 14 and says that this was extremely difficult as it made her feel isolated. Unfortunately she was impacted by having to spend time outside of school as she did not get the support that she required.
But she overcame this and used her own lived experience to help other neurodiverse young people and their families to create a new path and journey in life.
She said: “I'm just so super excited for all the young people that Diversified supports.
“Winning the Bright Future Prize is going to help us to have our own building that can be their safe place where they can be themselves and have opportunities like everyone else.
“With the right support, neurodivergent young people can achieve really incredible things and I hope that Diversified will enable them to do that.
“Well done to everyone who took part in the Bright Future Prize, they are all awesome!
“Young people have so much to give and I'm really happy that the Bright Future Prize exists to be able to show that.”
The Bright Future Prize is in its second year and organiser say that the aim of the project is to empower young people aged 13-19 to become the next generation of community leaders by funding their bright ideas that will make a difference to their chosen cause.
This year, £40,000 was awarded to winners over four categories, each connected to a different way young people can help spark a positive change in the world around them.
ACT Trustee and former Irish and British Lions Rugby Captain, Rory Best said: “It’s been a huge honour to select the winners of this year’s Bright Future Prize.
“All of the finalists had incredible ideas –and I was impressed by their drive to use their own experiences and passion to give back to others and make a difference.
“I’m sure all our finalists will inspire many more young people to get involved in the communities that matter to them. Myself, and the rest of ACT’s Trustees can’t wait to see how our winners use the funding to make their ideas happen!”
The Bright Future Prize was inspired by Freddie Williams, the son of Ardonagh employee David and his wife Sarah who was diagnosed with a rare form of bone cancer at the age of seven.
When Freddie died, the contents of his money box were donated to ACT to help ‘the next poorly child’. This simple gesture led to the idea of the Bright Future Prize, to support young people to make a positive impact – and as part of Freddie’s continued legacy, David and Sarah help the ACT Trustees to select its Bright Future Prize winners.
For more information about ACT please visit the ACT website here.
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