Youth charities 'must work together'

By Irvine Laidlaw
Scottish businessman

A charitable foundation to help vulnerable young people is being set up by one of Scotland's richest men.

The foundation will help charities dealing with young people

Irvine Laidlaw hopes that the new body will tackle what he believes are current shortfalls in care for the under-23s.

Details of the project were being unveiled at the Continuity for the Client conference in Edinburgh.

Mr Laidlaw told BBC News Online Scotland why he believes charities must join forces to help youngsters.

---

There are about 30,000 charities in Scotland, which employ more than 100,000 people and generate £2bn annually.

It is big business and many of Scotland's charities are the most effective businesses around.

The sector's "output" related to the resources used is remarkable - if British industry were as effective we'd overtake Japan in the world economy.

Their presence is absolutely vital in Scotland and as a regular charity donor there are two areas that concern me:

• How can smaller charities stay independent yet offer a better service to their clients? Many charities are too small to be as effective as they could be and too much of their time and resources are spent on fundraising and accounting

• In most cases charities offer a single intervention, which is vital and can often be life-transforming, but doesn't address the long-term and changing needs of Scotland's disadvantaged young people. We need to implement a strategy whereby charities are working together, sharing resources and expertise, to offer young people a chain of support.

Charities and individual members of society are doing a great job of helping young people to realise their full potential.

I believe there is a lot of untapped talent in Scotland that has been allowed to slip through the net because they come from a background in which success is not a priority.

Being successful in whatever you do is important, whether it's having a prosperous career or raising a family.

Core activities

However, a lot of young people are raised in an environment where poverty takes over and they are exposed to negative experiences and miss out on basic opportunities such as education.

If charities adopt a joint approach they have a better chance of identifying and helping these individuals, who are potentially valuable members of society.

By working in partnership, charities can tap into a larger pool of resources and provide their clients with a more effective and tailored solution to their individual needs.

It also opens the possibility of sharing administrative functions, freeing up time for charity workers to focus on their core activities.

There is a lot of untapped talent in Scotland that has been allowed to slip through the net because they come from a background in which success is not a priority Irvine Laidlaw

The conference will give charities the knowledge, contacts and encouragement they need to form joint initiatives.

We need to build a solid and effectively single chain of support that will cater for the changing needs of young people.

There's little point in offering young people vocational training if it isn't going to be followed up with refresher training.

And many of our young people in Scotland have very complex and demanding issues that must be addressed by different people and organisations with different knowledge and expertise.

This event is the first of its kind and every organisation involved is equally committed to improving the support available to our young people.

Working together means we can reach our common goals and I hope the event will mark the beginning of a more joined-up approach.