Donate to Craft Café through the Big Give Christmas Challenge Donate Now

Impact Arts is delighted to have received new funding to support our work with whole family wellbeing in our parent-and-child therapeutic art programme Art Wise and our work with young people in our creative employability programmes.

Art Wise Falkirk: Falkirk Council

A huge thank you to Falkirk Council for their 100% funding of Art Wise in Falkirk, totaling £25,600.

This continuation of funding will allow us to continue our evidence-based and innovative assets-based approach to whole family wellbeing, focussing on the needs of individuals as well as the other family members, meeting local priorities in and around Falkirk. The programme seeks to support the whole family through an arts-based learning approach to parenting children who have experienced trauma, poor mental health, social difficulties and/or behavioural difficulties.

In Art Wise, we focus on removing barriers to accessing services, and improving parents/carers mental health. With this funding, we will continue to deliver a combination of parent-only sessions, whole-family sessions, alongside one-to-one family support, with participants attending for up to 8 weeks at a time.

One of the blocks will be delivered from One Parent Families Scotland premises in Maddiston.

Impactful Starts Edinburgh: National Lottery Community Fund

We’d like to thank the National Lottery Community Fund for their generous contribution of £10,000 in youth employability funding towards Impactful Starts in Edinburgh.

NLCF funds community projects that help people connect, grow and build a better future. They focus on supporting people who are experiencing poverty, disadvantage, or discrimination. By 2030, they’ll share over £4 billion to create stronger, fairer communities across the UK.

Impactful Starts supports young people aged 16-24 years who are from deprived communities and at risk of long term unemployment. The programme helps improve their wellbeing and make a positive progression in life.

Community activities in this programme are tailored towards Edinburgh’s growth sectors of culture and tourism, for example previous projects created community murals, transformed community gardens, collaborated on creative projects in heritage spaces and created new signage/sculptures. This funding will enable us to support up to 30 young people to overcome individual barriers, connect with each other, build trusted relationships, identify progression opportunities, and set personal goals. We will support young people with disabilities, those who have poor mental health, those who are neurodivergent, or are new Scots.

Impactful Starts Glasgow: The Gosling Foundation & The Murgitroyd Foundation

A huge thank you also to The Gosling Foundation for their contribution of £5,000 and Impactful Starts in Glasgow.

This foundation funds units, establishments, and ships of the Royal Navy & Royal Marines as well as youth groups (e.g. Sea Cadets, Scouts, Girl Guides, performing arts).

In more good news for Impactful Starts in Glasgow, we’d like to thank The Murgitroyd Foundation for their contribution of £2,500 towards the project.

In the year January to December 2026, Impactful Starts will benefit around 72 young people aged 16-24 who are affected by poor life chances and at risk of anti-social behaviour. The project delivers 2 days a week in Edinburgh and 3 days a week in Glasgow, with one day at Kelvin College for Glasgow participants. During the course of the programme and with the support of a Wellbeing and Opportunities Worker, participants identify their barriers to progression, develop their core and soft skills, and co-create a personal activities plan which helps them to work towards achieving a positive destination.

We use creative engagement as a ‘hook’ from which to establish relationships of trust with young people. Once established, these relationships of trust provide an opportunity for young people to able to share their often-hidden feelings, vulnerabilities, goals and aspirations, enabling us to meet the expected outcomes and achieve transformational change.

The Wellbeing and Opportunities Workers provide employability support on a one-to-one basis, supporting young people to overcome individual barriers, identify progression opportunities, and set personal goals.

Our partner networks then provide opportunities for participants in further education, training and
volunteering, as well as options beyond education such as apprenticeships and self-employment, with many young people interested in the Creative Industries.

As always, a huge thank you to our funders, partners, and donors who make our work possible. Let’s continue to transform lives through creativity in Scotland.

Impact Arts is a community arts charity based in Scotland. Since 1994, we’ve been delivering creative arts and support programmes for children, young people, adults, families, and older people who are facing disadvantages or barriers to progress in life. Our mission is to tackle inequalities, address poverty, and transform lives through art and creativity.  

Impact Arts is pleased to share that we have received several new grants to support our youth employability programmes. This recent flurry of funding means we can continue offering creative opportunities that help young people build confidence, learn new skills, and take steps toward their future. It’s a big boost for our team and the communities we work with – and we’re grateful to the funders who’ve made it possible.

Garfield Weston Foundation

A huge thank you to the Garfield Weston Foundation for their generous contribution of £20,000 per year for two years for Impactful Starts.

The Garfield Weston Foundation is a family-founded grant-making organisation that supports a broad spectrum of charities across the UK, donating approximately £100 million each year. These include organisations in the arts, welfare, youth, community development, education, environment, health, heritage, and more.

Impactful Starts – which will now benefit from Garfield Weston’s funding – is our free-to-attend creative employability programme for young people. This programme provides a safe, accessible space for 16-24 year olds to: get creative, make new friends, build confidence, gain qualifications, develop new skills, and get support to progress.

Young people get to explore activities such as painting, digital art, musicmaking, theatre, or creative writing while developing their employability skills. This programme is especially suitable for young people who have autism, ADHD, disabilities, anxiety or mental health conditions, or experience of being bullied.

Any funding given to Impactful Starts directly helps young people discover their passion, gain valuable skills, and plan next steps for their future.

The D’Oyly Carte Charitable Trust

Thank you also to The D’Oyly Carte Charitable Trust for contributing £6,000 to be used between September 2025 and June 2026 for Impactful Starts in Glasgow. This funding will go towards a music project as part of our creative youth employability programme for young people from areas of multiple deprivation.

Dame Bridget D’Oyly Carte was the granddaughter of Richard D’Oyly Carte, the renowned theatrical impresario who founded the Savoy Theatre in 1881 and the Savoy Hotel in 1889.

In 1972, Dame Bridget created The D’Oyly Carte Charitable Trust to reflect her personal passions, particularly her love of theatre, music, gardening, and her commitment to supporting disadvantaged and disabled children. Today, the Trust honours her legacy through three core grant programmes: The Arts, Medical Welfare, and The Environment.

The Hugh Fraser Foundation

We’d also like to thank The Hugh Fraser Foundation for their contribution of £5,000 youth employability funding towards Impactful Starts in Glasgow.

The Hugh Fraser Foundation provides donations to registered charities working across a range of sectors, including arts and culture, health and medical care, environmental initiatives, education, and support for children, older people, individuals with disabilities, and those facing disadvantage.

Their funding policy prioritises projects and activities based in Scotland, with a particular focus on areas where economic challenges or local circumstances make charitable fundraising more difficult.

Give a young person a brighter future

In our 2024/25 Impactful Starts groups, 94% improved their employability skills and 71% progressed into further study, training, or work. Impactful Starts is changing lives and these recent successful grants are welcome good news. But sadly, there’s still a funding gap. To keep this transformative programme running, we need your help to bridge this gap and help more young people build brighter futures.

Donate before August 29 and be automatically entered into our prize draw to WIN one of three framed artworks!

Thank you!

Impact Arts is a community arts charity based in Scotland. Since 1994, we’ve been delivering creative arts and support programmes for children, young people, adults, families, and older people who are facing disadvantages or barriers to progress in life. Our mission is to tackle inequalities, address poverty, and transform lives through art and creativity.  

Community arts charity Impact Arts is delighted to receive £99,808 of funding from The National Lottery Community Fund!

Through TNL’s Young Start Fund, we have been awarded this substantial funding for Impactful Starts, our creative youth employability programme.

About The National Lottery Community Fund

The National Lottery raises money for good causes and distributes funding that enables people across the country to do extraordinary things, transforming lives and improving communities. The projects granted funding are those that aim to transform communities, protect our heritage, and enrich lives through arts, sports, and culture.

The purpose of Young Start, a fund run by The National Lottery Community Fund Scotland for the Scottish Government, is to help young people aged 8-24 become more confident and play an active part in realising their potential.

A substantial funding boost for Impactful Starts

Between August 2025 and July 2027, we will deliver 2 x 12-week blocks of Impactful Starts in Glasgow each year.

Impactful Starts is a stage 1, non-traditional creative employability project. Over 12 weeks, using the arts as a focus, we help participants build their confidence, make new friends, get creative, and prepare for progression into work, further education, or training.

In this programme, young people aged 16-24 work with by an artist, youth worker, and opportunities co-ordinator who provide 1:1 and group support. They get to explore creative engagement techniques such as painting, sculpture, musicmaking, theatre, photography, animation, or poetry. Young people also have the opportunity to go on field trips and take part in local community art, heritage, and/or climate action projects. At the same time, they get support to establish a routine, create a CV, prepare for interviews, identify opportunities, and plan next steps for their future.

This is a vital programme for young people and the whole team at Impact Arts is very grateful for TNL’s support.

(Impact Arts is currently running a fundraising campaign for Impactful Starts Edinburgh and Glasgow. Give a young person a brighter future – make a donation before August 29, 2025 and be automatically entered into our prize draw to win one of three framed artworks.)

Welcome back, Sketchy Youths!

In other exciting news, this new funding will also allow Impact Arts to relaunch our popular Sketchy Youths programme.

Sketchy Youths is a peer-led group and young artists collective for 16-24 year olds and will be open to both past and new participants. In Autumn 2025, over the course of 10 weeks, eight initial Sketchy Youths ‘champions’ will meet weekly to receive training in preparing and delivering their own creative workshops for young people on the next Impactful Starts programmes.

Throughout the following 20 months, Sketchy Youth creatives will encourage ‘graduates’ of Impactful Starts to join them in attending monthly facilitated Sketchy Youth half-day workshops to learn additional creative skills and shape the ongoing design of our programmes. To strengthen community arts, youth voice, advocacy, and leadership skills, they’ll encourage the ‘graduates’ to volunteer on programmes where they can also access dedicated open studio space within The Boardwalk on an independent, drop-in basis.

We would like to thank The National Lottery Community Fund for their contribution which will help us deliver life-changing art programmes for young people in Glasgow.

Fund Impact Arts’ programmes in your area

Would your organisation like to contribute funding towards an Impact Arts programme?

Email development@impactarts.co.uk to discuss with our Development Team.

Commission a project

Would you like to commission Impact Arts for a project? We deliver a variety of commissions including public art like murals, community consultations, and creative workshops in locations across Central Scotland.

Visit our commissions webpage to learn more and see our creative work.

Impact Arts is a community arts charity based in Scotland. Since 1994, we’ve been delivering creative arts and support programmes for children, young people, adults, families, and older people who are facing disadvantages or barriers to progress in life. Our mission is to tackle inequalities, address poverty, and transform lives through art and creativity.  

We’re delighted to announce that Impact Arts has been awarded 3-year Multi-Year Funding from Creative Scotland!

This funding marks the first time in Impact Arts’ 30-year history that it has received this level of unrestricted core funding. Given the current funding pressures facing the third sector, this award will help the charity remain sustainable into the future and allow us to continue to deliver transformative work.

Our reaction to the news

This announcement was definitely cause for celebration. We’re so grateful for this recognition for the great work our teams are delivering to help children, young people, adults, families and older people facing barriers or disadvantages across Scotland.

Impact Arts CEO, Fiona Doring, says:

“We are thrilled to have been awarded Creative Scotland’s Multi-Year Funding and see this as strong recognition for the life transforming work that our artists deliver with people and communities across central Scotland. It’s heartening to see the increase in arts organisations that work with local communities join the portfolio and appreciation for the importance of bringing arts and creativity to people who would not otherwise have access to them.”

It’s fantastic to see so many other arts organisations receive funding to support their work, including our The Boardwalk tenants, Solar Bear, Birds of Paradise Theatre Company and Paragon. Congratulations!

How we’ll use this funding to support people across Central Scotland

Being awarded this level of funding will allow us to continue to tackle inequalities, improve wellbeing and life chances, combat loneliness, connect communities and engage people through vital creative engagement.

The funding received from Creative Scotland will go towards the delivery of life-changing projects including:

  • Art Wise – helping families meet their individual needs, thrive and stay connected through creative and therapeutic creative arts, and helping parents/carers better understand their child’s behaviour.
  • Art Therapy – offering a safe and relaxing place for children to express themselves and better understand their emotions through creativity and play with an art therapist.
  • CashBack to the Future – helping young people make friends, get creative, learn new skills and have their voice heard. For young people who find school tricky, struggle with mental health, are care experienced, or are new to Scotland.
  • Impactful Starts – helping young people get creative, gain confidence and earn qualifications through a non-traditional creative employability programme – and more!

This support helps us work closer towards our vision for a Scotland where people benefit from life-transforming creativity that tackles inequalities and addresses poverty.

Learn more about the projects we deliver at Impact Arts.