Hundreds of young people across Renfrewshire will benefit from a funding boost given to local charity CREATE Paisley of £83,000.
It was awarded by BBC Children in Need and will be spent over the next three years to provide lots of creative opportunities.
CREATE work across various areas with hubs in Paisley, Johnstone, Linwood, among many more. They provide free sessions for people aged 12 to 21 with activities to help boost their confidence and allow them to flourish.
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Celia Maclean, CREATE Paisley fundraising and marketing manager, said: “CREATE Paisley has flourished over recent years and, as a result of the global pandemic, has seen considerable growth with more young people engaging with our services and activities as they return to some form of normality after being isolated for so long.
"It is testament to our Youth Work team that their work has been recognised and supported by BBC Children in Need who wish to fund the continuation and development of our programmes.”
Alan Clark, Executive Director of the charity, added :“We are so delighted, and very grateful, to have been successful in securing funding from BBC Children in Need to support our work in Renfrewshire over the next three years.
"This funding will allow us to continue to provide exciting, innovative and much needed creative based opportunities for young people along with safe spaces, drop in sessions and platforms for them to find their voices and be heard.
"We have seen increased demand for our services since the pandemic and are keen to continue our work and hopefully reach even more young people thanks to this funding.”
CREATE rely on funding from organisations such as Children in Need along with support from individuals and businesses in the community to deliver their free, creative and fun sessions across Renfrewshire. CREATE’s vision is to see all young people transformed through creativity, community, confidence, and finding their voice.
CREATE Youth Worker, Nicola Ferguson, explained: “Children in Need funding will make such a big difference to the work that CREATE do, particularly in Linwood and Johnstone where we are developing new projects and building our profile.
"We would encourage any young people interested to visit our website (www.createpaisley.org.uk) to see all the sessions we run, sign up online and come and join us for some creative fun!”
Speaking of how vital CREATE has been to youngsters in the community, Sophie, 14, who attends, said: "It’s a place where I can talk about my problems without feeling stupid.
"Where I can see my friends and catch up after a long week of school. You get to relate to people and realise that there are people here to help you.
"CREATE has shown me that I can be confident and not jump right into the deep end. That taking small steps is OK and we'll get through it together if we need to."
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