Sports and Leisure funding protection
Young people had specific concerns around their access to sports and leisure opportunities as we recover from COVID-19. 80.5% of those we spoke to agreed that ‘Funding for sports and leisure facilities and programs should be protected from budget cuts and supported through a dedicated COVID-19 recovery fund to ensure all young people can continue to participate in activities, regardless of where they live or their household’s income.‘ 6.8% disagreed and 12.7% didn’t know.
Playing football really helped me during COVID. It was a time to have fun and forget about it all.
– Armed forces young person
Working with disabled young people to design parks
After hearing directly from disabled young people about what changes they’d like to see, we asked young people more widely whether they agreed that ‘The Scottish Government should encourage and provide funding to local councils to work with young people with disabilities to design and maintain more accessible parks.‘ 87.3% agreed, 4.2% disagreed and 8.5% didn’t know.
Widening Young Scot card discounts
Young people also want to see the existing provisions for reduced entry expanded to more places. When we asked whether they felt that ‘More sports centres, cultural and arts facilities should have reduced entry fees or discounts for young people with a Young Scot card.‘, 86.1% agreed, 4.2% disagreed, and 7.3% didn’t know.
Young Scot cards already provide many different amazing discounts, but providing more for something active would be very beneficial for everyone. Many places do not consider Young Scot cards as discounts, which can get pretty annoying
– A young carer
Why are Young Scot discounts important to young people?
“Personally speaking, I strongly believe that more sports centres, cultural and arts facilities should have reduced entry fees or discounts for young people with a Young Scot card” because talking from someone who always wanted to take part in those but not always had the money, I know it can be a struggle. I was previously a Convener of the Culture and Media Committee in SYP, before I became an SYP Trustee and a Young Scot Trustee, so I have worked on and tried to implement the work of improving these places.
A lot of young people struggle to financially keep themselves going, and on top of all of that, they struggle to keep their hobbies going because of the expenses of centres and facilities. I have been in many of these situations where I had to deal with what I had at home, and not be able to join or do newer things because of the fees.
Young Scot cards already provide many different amazing discounts, but providing more for something active would be very beneficial for everyone. Many places do not consider Young Scot cards as discounts, which can get pretty annoying, especially as I got into those situations and had many people tell me they have as well, so it would be good to keep going with promoting it, especially if new discounts were to be implemented.
Of course I know that the places cannot be free, especially as the workers who work there need to get paid in some shape or form and maintain their business, but implementing discounts can really benefit those who cannot afford to pay the full price of a fee. I still remember the discount with a Young Scot card during summer that provided young people with ability to go swimming for free.” – Wiktoria Orlika MSYP
