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Young Enterprise Scotland (YES) has been inspiring and equipping young people to learn, develop and reach their full potential through enterprise since 1992. Every year they support thousands of young people from all backgrounds to develop business knowledge, entrepreneurial skills and, ultimately, become more employable. It aims to:

• Enhance entrepreneurial attitudes of young people in Scotland
• Improve the enterprise skills of young people in Scotland
• Strengthen the work readiness of Scotland’s young people

YES offers a wide variety of enterprise and financial education programmes and development opportunities for young people across Scotland.

Geoff Leask, Chief Executive of YES, had this to say:

‚ ‘Our strategic ambition at Young Enterprise Scotland is to enable ,enterprise for all, and by working with forward thinking organisations like Optimat it is helping us to enable better futures for young people‚Äù

Glasgow Disability Tennis was set up in 2013 and is the only club in Scotland providing all year-round tennis coaching and match play opportunities for people with a physical, sensory, or learning disability. The club works closely with Tennis Scotland, the Lawn Tennis Association, Scottish Disability Sport, Glasgow Sport & Glasgow Disability Sport as well as many local community groups.

The programme provides activities for all ages and ability levels to learn tennis skills, develop life skills, meet new friends, improve their health & fitness and gain confidence and belief in their abilities. Everyone has the opportunity to feel included, valued and meet their full potential and individual goals.

For most of their players, tennis has literally changed their lives. Many parents and carers acknowledge the ongoing benefits they see individuals gain, especially regarding hand-eye coordination, health and fitness, confidence and self-esteem. Friendships and support for all individuals is also a key long-term benefit.

In 2015 Glasgow Disability Tennis was recognised for their work in providing tennis opportunities for disabled people in the community by being awarded the Tennis Scotland Disability Programme of the Year Award and also the LTA Disability Programme of the Year Award (the highest award in the UK).

Lesley Whitehead, Head Coach, had this to say:

‚ ‘On behalf of GDT I would like to say a BIG thank you for selecting us as one of the charities you are supporting in 2021. It came as a very welcome surprise and the money will help us to enable more people with a disability in the community to have the opportunity to try tennis, meet new friends, keep fit and active and improve their life skills. Many thanks again from all members of Glasgow Disability Tennis.‚Äù

MCR Pathways, relationship-based Mentoring Programme has been helping young people build motivation, commitment and resilience since 2007. It was created to address the outcome gap between care-experienced young people and their peers, supporting young people who have experienced disadvantage to realise their full potential through education. MCR does this through its school-based mentoring programme – matching young people with a fully trained volunteer mentor.

The organisation’s vision is:

‚ ‘every care-experienced young person, or those who have experienced disadvantage, get the same education outcomes, career opportunities and life chances as every other young person‚Äù