Scotland’s dynamic youth arts and youth work community is set to benefit from more than £725,000 through the latest round of the Youth Arts Open Fund, aimed at empowering children and young people through creativity, self-expression, and accessible arts experiences.
Over the next 12 months, 3,512 children and young people from 22 local authority areas across Scotland will take part in a wide range of innovative projects designed to boost mental health, build confidence, develop creative skills, and celebrate diverse lived experiences.
This year, 55 organisations have received funding totalling £725,310. The fund supports freelance artists and organisations to deliver high-quality and inclusive arts activity for children and young people—particularly those who may face barriers to participation.
The fund is administered by YouthLink Scotland, the national agency for youth work, as part of Creative Scotland’s wider support for children and young people, and is funded by the Scottish Government.
A key innovation in the fund this year was the increased role of young people in decision-making. While applications were assessed for artistic quality by Creative Scotland’s artform specialists, final funding decisions were made by a newly established youth panel of seven children and young people. This panel played a central role in shaping funding priorities and ensuring that resources were directed to projects that genuinely resonated with children and young people’s experiences and needs. Their insight and lived experience brought a vital and fresh perspective to the process.
Youth panel members gained new skills in fairness, collaboration, and leadership, while helping to ensure the fund remained rooted in the values of equity, access, and youth voice.
Quotes from Youth panel members:
“Young people have firsthand experience and a clear understanding of needs, challenges, and interests. By involving them, funders can ensure that resources are allocated to areas that genuinely matter to the young people—making the funding go to more relevant and effective projects that will make a difference.”
“The freedom we had in making decisions as a group was empowering, and being able to choose our priority criteria for assessing applications made a significant difference. It allowed us to tailor the process to what felt most relevant and fair.”
The Youth Arts Open Fund supports artists and organisations to deliver high-quality, accessible arts activities for children and young people, especially those who face barriers to participation, helping to boost wellbeing, self-expression, confidence and skills.
The latest round of Youth Arts Open Fund grants has supported a diverse mix of 55 creative projects that reflect the depth and range of children and young people’s experiences across Scotland. From rural areas like Moray and Dumfries and Galloway to urban centres such as Glasgow and Dundee, the funded projects are using music, dance, theatre, digital media, comics, and visual arts to connect with children and young people, especially those facing barriers such as poverty, isolation, care experience, or mental health challenges. Projects include the launch of Marginal, Scotland’s first youth-led comics label, new art and music programmes for children and young people in kinship care, and collaborative mural and storytelling projects rooted in community identity and lived experience.
Several initiatives also aim to address specific social needs through creativity. For example, arts projects for children and young people with additional support needs, LGBTQ+ youth, and those living in areas with limited access to cultural provision are using participatory methods to support personal growth and wellbeing. Others, such as Open Studio Moray, are embedding professional artists within youth settings to co-create high-quality work alongside children and young people, while organisations like What Moves You CIC are developing dance and movement experiences that build confidence and self-expression. Collectively, these projects demonstrate the power of youth arts to not only inspire, but to give voice to children and young people who too often go unheard.
Commenting Culture Secretary Angus Robertson said: “Access to the arts gives young people an opportunity to express their creativity, but we know it can also have a major impact on their overall wellbeing and development into confident citizens.
“The Scottish Government is proud to support this year’s Youth Arts Open Fund with £725,000, enabling 55 organisations to engage with more than 3,500 young people across Scotland, in particular those who wouldn’t otherwise have access or the means to engage with the arts. The fund is also a wonderful example of how young people can be at the heart of public services, with youth panel members involved in assessing applications to ensure their voices are heard.”
Jane Dailly, National Grants Manager at YouthLink Scotland, said: “It’s exciting to see the evolution of this fund as it becomes more fully youth-led and focused on reaching those young people who have least opportunity to access the Arts. This year the fund is again supporting an incredible breadth of projects that address young people's lived experience or support them to engage in the Arts on their own terms, from kinship care support to Scotland's first young person-led comics label.
“The role of the Arts in giving voice to marginalised young people should never be underestimated. I'd like to acknowledge the time, effort and care given by the young people involved in the youth panel this year. Their role has really boosted the youth-led element of this fund.”
Colin Bradie, Head of Creative Learning at Creative Scotland added: "We are thrilled to support a vibrant mix of multi-artform projects, from dance and digital arts to comics and community theatre. What is especially exciting this year is the strong youth-led focus of the fund. Young people have played a central role in shaping what gets funded, meaning we are not only backing brilliant creative ideas, but also actively supporting their right to be heard. This speaks directly to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child by ensuring children and young people have a meaningful say in shaping the creative opportunities available to them and their peers across Scotland."
This round of the fund saw 162 applications, requesting a total of £2,051,070, making it oversubscribed by around £1.5 million—a clear indication of the growing demand for open access funding in the arts and youth work sectors.
Background
YouthLink Scotland is the national agency for youth work. It is a membership organisation and is in the unique position of representing the interests and aspirations of the whole of the sector both voluntary and statutory. We champion the role and value of the youth work sector, challenging government at national and local levels to invest in the development of the sector.
Creative Scotland is the public body that supports culture and creativity across all parts of Scotland, distributing funding provided by the Scottish Government and The National Lottery, which, now in its 30th year, has supported over 14,600 projects with more than £501.9 million in funding through Creative Scotland and its predecessor, the Scottish Arts Council. Further information at creativescotland.com. Follow us on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram. Learn more about the value of art and creativity in Scotland and join in at www.ourcreativevoice.scot.
Media contacts
For interview and media enquiries contact Sarah Paterson, Communications and Public Affairs Manager at YouthLink Scotland on 07804 603762 and at [email protected]