Billionaire's post-covid £100,000 helping hand to Highland youngsters
Register for free to read more of the latest local news. It's easy and will only take a moment.
Aviemore-based Wildland Ltd, which oversees the ecological ambitions of the country's largest private landowner Anders Holch Povlsen, has committed itself to investing some £100,000 in Highland youth.
Celebrating "real and remarkable results" from the first decade of its 200-year vision of landscape-scale conservation in the Scottish Highlands, the company, owned by the Danish billionaire's main family business Heartland and based at Kinrara Estate, said this week it was proud of the achievements.
"But we know that our investment in Scotland’s wild land won’t just help nature heal itself," said chief executive Tim Kirkwood.
"Sustainable and thriving local communities lie at the heart of our vision."
At the same time, Covid-19 had taken a severe toll in Highland communities, particularly among young people whose educations had been disrupted and who had faced – and still are facing – very significant barriers to finding employment.
"Even as we look forward to reopening businesses and coming together again following lockdown, we must not forget that many young people will need extra help if they are to feel part of Scotland’s recovery."
Mr Kirkwood explained: “That’s why this year Wildland has chosen to support the work of two nationally-recognised leaders in education support for children and young people, The Prince’s Trust and Young Enterprise Scotland.
"By funding both organisations to set up new programmes in schools and communities across the north of Scotland, our goal is to increase the range of opportunities for young people to build resilience and reach their full potential.”
Wildland has committed £40,000 to The Trust’s Achieve programme to expand its reach across the North East, Highlands and Islands in the academic year ahead, he detailed.
The Achieve programme provides a vocational curriculum for pupils at risk of disengaging with their education at secondary level. Its emphasis on practical skills and experience of work offers young people a valuable supplement to the mainstream syllabus, giving them a tangible asset that they can use in their next steps, be that in education or employment.
“We are also providing a further £30,000 to the next generation of entrepreneurs in the North East, Highlands and Islands through The Trust’s Enterprise programme," Mr Kirkwood went on.
"The scheme works with young aspiring business founders, aged 18-30, providing two years’ training and mentorship alongside access to resources to launch their business. We are particularly excited by the potential for aspiring entrepreneurs from remote, fragile communities in the Highlands and Islands to receive this support because a significant portion of delivery can be accessed remotely through online learning.
"At the same time we’re partnering with enterprise education charity Young Enterprise Scotland, providing thirty thousand pounds to help it deliver a Circular Community Challenge project in primary schools in the Highlands.
"This fun, interactive challenge is designed to provide pupils with vital enterprise skills from team working to communication, as well as the confidence in their own creativity.
"Through it, primary school pupils will be supported to work together to design and develop their own ‘circular’ business — either a product or service — which also meets a need in their local community. With national and international attentions focussed squarely on the COP26 global climate change summit in Glasgow later this year, there has never been a better time to help young people learn about the principles and benefits of a circular economy, where everything has value and nothing is wasted."
Through each of those collaborations Wildland hoped to develop partnerships that supported community resilience, particularly among young people in rural areas who faced unique barriers to reaching their full potential in education and employment.
"We are excited to see how they unfold in the months ahead and wish every young person involved in these programmes all the success in the world."
