Skye youth groups get a boost from ferry operator CalMac
Three Skye based youth groups are set set to benefit from ferry operator CalMac's Community Fund.
The latest round of awards from the ferry operator will help support Gaelic language and culture, the island's pipe band and provide a weekend of outdoor activities. Sleat based Fèis na Linne is a community-led organisation creating opportunities for young people to participate in and celebrate the Gaelic culture. The CalMac award will allow them organise a series of monthly workshops offering young people the opportunity to learn traditional music, Gaelic song, drama and art.
'We would like to thank CalMac for this Community Fund award and for supporting the work of Fèis na Linne. The award will go directly towards providing opportunities for children and young people from Sleat and from across the island to come together and learn more about Gaelic song, music and the creative arts. We are particularly delighted that we will be able to engage with the local community and look at tunes, traditions and songs that are intrinsic to the language and culture of south Skye and that will be passed on to future generations,' said Angela Gillies from Fèis na Linne.
Skye Youth Pipe Band's award will help them prepare for and compete in the European Pipe Band Championships in Inverness this summer.
The final award to a Skye group went to Broadford Youth Club. The club regularly attracts 100 young people to meet at Broadford Village Hall. CalMac support will allow the club to organise a weekend of activities including mountain biking, kayaking, swimming, cliff jumping, team building tasks, assault courses and archery.
CalMac's Community Fund drives social value by supporting non profit organisations, based in a mainland port or island the company serves, delivering projects to benefit the lives of children and young people living in west coast communities. Organisations can apply for an award between £500 to £2000.
So far the Fund has supported 76 projects from woman's football in the Outer Hebrides, to the Campbeltown Sea Cadets and a Gaelic youth club on Skye. Each application was judged by a screening panel of young people recruited from across the company's network, in partnership with Young Scot.
'We were delighted to be able to support three Skye groups in the latest round of awards. A key role of the Community Fund is to widen opportunities and remove barriers facing young people on our islands and all three will help open up experiences that they might not otherwise have access to,' said CalMac's Corporate Social Responsibility Manager, Gordon McKillop.