- Criminals’ ill-gotten gains re-directed to support young
people to make positive choices
A unique programme funded from seized criminal assets has helped
to provide new opportunities for more than 28,000 young people in
the past year.
CashBack for Communities used £19 million recovered from criminal
activity to support 24 organisations during Phase 5 of the
programme, which ran from April 2020 to March 2023, to support
young people, including those who may be at risk from being drawn
into antisocial behaviour or criminality.
Projects supported included the Vow Project, run in partnership
with Police Scotland, which uses peer mentors with experience of
the criminal justice system to support young people to break the
cycle of criminality and offending.
The Access to Industry project, which provides employability
support to young people in HM Prison and Young Offenders
Institution (YOI) Polmont, and Action for Children who support
young people at risk of involvement in offending or antisocial
behaviour, were also supported through CashBack.
A new evaluation of activity support in 2022-23, has found that
of the young people who took part in projects:
- 75% reported an improvement in their wellbeing
- 75% reported an increase in their confidence
- 59% gained new jobs, skills or qualifications
Since its inception, Cashback for Communities has committed up to
£130 million to fund a range of projects, delivering more than
2.5 million activities and supporting around 1.3 million young
people across Scotland.
Community Justice Minister said:
“The success of the Cashback for Communities projects show what
can be achieved when young people are given the right
opportunities. It is important that we support and encourage
young people to make choices that allow them to develop their
aspirations and potential.
“CashBack for Communities is a valued programme that everyone
involved should be rightly proud of. I am grateful to all
those who have helped to make the past three years such a
success, and supported so many young people in such a positive
way, particularly in a period impacted by COVID-19.
“For the past 15 years, Cashback has helped well over a million
young people across the country to find better futures.
This unique initiative underlines our commitment to support all
of Scotland’s young people to live full, healthy lives and to
help address some of the underlying causes of crime and
antisocial behaviour.”
Read the impact report
