Clydebank Housing Association, Tramway and The Village Storytelling Centre have each secured £15,000 funding for arts projects aimed at vulnerable young people aged between 10 and 19 years. The three organisations took part in an innovative event called Art of the Pitch in Glasgow on Monday 1st December. Six shortlisted arts organisations took to the stage to present engaging sponsorship pitches hoping to attract £15,000 to their projects.

Three businesses – Elphinstone, ScottishPower and Standard Life –each chose a project to support with £7,500 sponsorship. This was money was then matched £1 for £1 with funds from the Scottish Government’s CashBack for Communities scheme.

Projects chosen were:

• Clydebank Housing Association for a multi-discipline street arts project Reclaim our Streets – Regain our Lives which will tackle social issues in Whitecrook. Ken Ross, Chairman and Chief Executive of Elphinstone said “I am delighted to be supporting Clydebank Housing Association. This project embraces all that is good about regeneration. They are already engaging with the disadvantaged and disinterested young people of the area. Hopefully by the end of the project they will have taken ownership of the regeneration of Whitecrook. I look forward to working with all of the stakeholders and agencies involved.”

• Tramway for Street Art Project which will access young people through street and open space based workshops at three sites in Pollockshields and Govanhill. Heather McDonald, Group Sponsorships Manager, ScottishPower said “As a company committed to supporting and engaging young people in the communities in which we live and operate, ScottishPower was impressed by the Tramway project, which through this innovative youth programme, aims to help transform relationships between groups of young people, and between young people and other social groups in the Southside of Glasgow.”

• The Village Storytelling Centre for Sharing Stories – Giving Young Carers A Voice a project working with 90 young carers in Pollock. Karen Frost, Community Investment Manager, Standard Life said "This project stood out for us as it fits well with Standard Life’s community investment strategy and our ethos of working in partnership to help others to help themselves." "It is the perfect way for young carers to find a voice and express difficult emotions, through the medium of storytelling. We look forward to working with the Storytelling Centre to raise awareness amongst other young carers."

The CashBack matching grant scheme is aimed specifically at encouraging business sponsorship of arts activities to help divert young people from becoming involved in crime and anti-social behaviour. The funding comes from the CashBack for Communities initiative which uses money seized from criminals to provide free activities for 10 -19 year olds throughout Scotland.

Barclay Price, Director of Arts & Business Scotland said: “Art of the Pitch gave our business sponsors the ideal opportunity to make a difference to young people’s lives and to promote their company’s commitment to corporate and social responsibility. It was an enjoyable and informative evening for everyone involved.”

Fergus Ewing, Minister for Community Safety who attended the event said: “Our CashBack for Communities scheme is already making a real difference to the lives of thousands of young people throughout Scotland. It is not just sport but music, arts and drama that can provide opportunities for our youngsters. There's something out there for everyone and we need to allow our young people the chance to try it. “That is why we are working with Arts and Business Scotland to encourage Scottish businesses to match up to £600,000 of Government investment pound for