Big Hearts joins Scottish Government’s ‘Get Into Summer’
Through funding from The Mental Health Foundation and the City of Edinburgh Council, Big Hearts is supporting young people and teenagers during the school holidays as part of the nation-wide ‘Get Into Summer’ initiative launched by the Scottish Government.
In line with our ambitions to help young people reach their potential and build social connections, our charity has been awarded funding to include ‘Get Into Summer’ activities as part of our family-programmes at Tynecastle Park, engaging with local school pupils from low income households and young people aged 13-18 at risk of poor mental health.
> The City of Edinburgh Council contributed £1,500 to our popular School’s Out! project, running for the 4th year at the Stadium.
> The Mental Health Foundation, via Thrive Edinburgh – the new strategy for improving the mental health and wellbeing of all citizens in the city – granted us £6,109 towards one-to-one support and families activities for young people in Kinship Care, School’s Out and those involved in Big Hearts’ wellbeing support group for Teenagers.
‘Get Into Summer’ was established by the Scottish Government to support children and young people most impacted by the pandemic. £20 million in funding were made available via councils to create local opportunities to socialise, play and reconnect this summer.
Cabinet Secretary for Education Shirley-Anne Somerville said: “Scotland’s children and young people have experienced significant disruption to all aspects of their lives as a result of Covid-19, including their wellbeing; education and social connections. […] Through our partners – local authorities as well as our national organisations – the summer activity will focus on mental health and well-being of our children and young people whose lives have been impacted by Covid.”
We are grateful to both Edinburgh organisations for their trust and support to help us ensure young people who are most vulnerable get to access positive and fulfilling experiences over the summer.