What is Young Scot?

Based in Edinburgh, Young Scot is the national youth information and citizenship charity for 11-26-year olds in Scotland. We have over 30 years’ experience in providing young people with high-quality information, opportunities and experiences. Young Scot provide information, ideas and opportunities for young people. This helps them to make informed decisions and choices, connects them to opportunities locally, nationally and globally, and empowers them to create and drive positive change.

How young people are making a difference

Young people always tell us that they want to have a more significant say in the decisions that affect their lives. Our Co-design service involves young people creating, designing and delivering solutions in collaboration with organisations.Co-design is about much more than just understanding their issues, It’s about giving young people the power to create real change to policy, practice and services. Co-design goes beyond consultation, it engages young people as equals. Through our Co-design work, we have been supporting young people to engage in the decision-making process. This creates more opportunities to design, produce and influence policy and services. It also helps to improve the public perception of young people.

• National Youth Volunteering Design Team in partnership with ProjectScotland. As part of the development of a new National Volunteering Framework, the Scottish Government commissioned ProjectScotland and Young Scot to create a national youth volunteering design team. Known as YouthVIP, the young volunteers from a variety of backgrounds met regularly to develop their knowledge of volunteering and understanding of the challenges faced by young people. The team then delivered thirteen recommendations to the Scottish Government – all of which were included in the Framework.
• Youth Commission on Mental Health Services. In partnership with the Scottish Association for Mental Health and the Scottish Government, we organised our Youth Commission on Mental Health Services. This commission was set up to support Scotland’s Mental Health Strategy 2017-27. The strategy called for a whole-system approach to reviewing child and adolescent mental health services. The Commission gathered evidence and developed a set of recommendations on how mental health services can be developed and improved for young people now and in the future. These were presented to Claire Haughey MSP, Minister for Mental Health.

Why a .scot domain?

We’re a Scottish charity, and our work focuses entirely on supporting young people across Scotland and helping them to amplify their voices. Having a .scot domain reinforces our commitment to all young people of Scotland.

You can find out more about Young Scot by visiting their website.