The above 'charity' is a quango, funded by goodness knows who, because their brand new glossy website is full of the usual quango-speak and conveys no straight forward information about their funding sources except to say:
In Scotland today there are approximately 32,000 young people between the ages of 14 to 19 who have not been able to make a successful transition between school and further education, training or work.
Inspiring Scotland’s 14:19 Fund aims to significantly reduce this number by investing in co-ordinated delivery of targeted work by the voluntary sector. Significant funding will be delivered over a 7-10 year period, with investment targeted at the areas of greatest need.
The Scottish Government is to spend £4m on helping children play it announced yesterday. The cash will be spent over two years to improve facilities in areas where children need them most. Voluntary groups can apply for cash and the fund will be managed by Inspiring Scotland.
Adam Ingram the Children's Minister said yesterday:
"Over the years many of us have lost sight of the importance of play yet evidence shows that it contributes significantly to how children learn and develop, as well as their overall health and wellbeing,"
He said of the programme: "It will make a real difference towards improving many children's play experience and also ensure there is a lasting legacy in place for our younger children so that they too have better opportunities to develop through play in the future."
How society has changed in the past 30 years. I'm all for children playing but don't our nurseries teach play these days? Many nurseries are given taxpayers money to do exactly that so why another quango? This quango appears to be duplicating the work of many other public agencies and I can see no reason for its existence other than to enjoy champagne and canapes at portfolio launches. The link list on the Inspiring Scotland shows all we need to know - with the exception of the Scottish Government link, the others are all - guess? Aye quangos.
The Scottish Government's money could be better spent ensuring every school has a sports/playing field before contributing to this fake charity. The demise of playing fields in the past 20 years is a national scandal.
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6 comments:
Good 'spot' Subrosa but would question 'a quango too far' when I believe we are approaching '2000 quangos too far'!
I do agree WW, I was too hasty thinking up a title.
Perhaps I should change it to 'another quango too far'?
These bodies are designed to thwart any quick success an incoming Tory Government might otherwise have. It is all very sinister.
I'm always suspicious of government funded charities whichever party in power sets them up. At that point they become not charities but third party contractors for the government and the question has to be, could the government do the job cheaper in-house?
There is more info out there about, "Inspiring Scotland" if you look for it and the Scottish Government has a page about it and it appears to be a method of combining public and private cash rather than relying totally on public funds.
The Wood Family Trust have invested £300,000 in it and the Loyds TSB Foundation for Scotland have info that the Scottish Government is going to give "Inspiring Scotland" £9.44 Million over the next three years, this appears to be in addition to the £4 Million "Play" fund.
From info across all the links it seems that the Scottish Government hope that "Inspiring Scotland" will raise about another £7 Million themselves each year from non-governmental sources.
They are registered with the Scottish Charities commissioner but there is no financial info on the page though it does say you do have the legal right to see the charities accounts if you ask them directly.
Maybe it's a good way to deliver support to children and teenagers in Scotland, maybe not, but we'll have to wait and see.
Dug, can you give me lessons in searching on google please. I spent about half an hour looking for information and, with the exception of the Scottish Charities page, didn't see the ones you mention.
What I don't understand is why another quango? We have enough quangos, agencies etc dealing with children and most of them seldom interact. This seems to me to be just another 'we're doing something' for the few and a rather posh setup to boot.
Do you think I'll get an invitation to the next launch? I'm kind of partial to champagne and canapes.
I meant to say Dug, isn't it shameful we've let down 32,000 children in our state school system?
Something seriously wrong somewhere.
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