West Lothian secondary school pupils have raised an amazing £21,000 for local charities.
The money was raised by students through their involvement in the Youth and Philanthropy Initiative (YPI).
Pupils at Bathgate Academy raised cash for Generation Arts Association, Broxburn Academy picked River Kids, at Linlithgow Academy it was SAMH and Pinewood School chose Carers of West Lothian.
At St Margaret’s Academy pupils chose to help Neil’s Hugs, West Calder High School picked Hearts and Minds while Whitburn Academy chose to raise money for West Lothian Food Train.
The seven schools committed to The Wood Foundation programme which sees young people work in teams to identify social issues impacting their communities and the charities addressing them.
They then develop creative presentations in a bid to secure their school’s £3000 grant.
The top three social issues securing YPI funding this year were support for those facing health and disability conditions, services to address mental health and wellbeing, and action to tackle poverty in Scotland’s communities.
Ali MacLachlan, UK Director at The Wood Foundation, said: “Young people raising awareness of social issues and ensuring this vital funding reached communities at a time of acute need is so important.
“We are incredibly proud of the dedication and commitment shown by schools and students to ensure this important learning and funding opportunity continued with such vigour despite all the challenges of the school year from Covid-19.
“Giving young people a platform and a voice to lead their learning and make a difference to the issues they saw first-hand locally took on additional significance in a year when so much autonomy was taken away.
“We have been blown away by many of the presentations and have great hope that our young people are an exciting force for change.”
For more information on the project visit https://www.thewoodfoundation.org.uk/
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