CashBack for Communities 2021/2022 Impact Report

The CashBack for Communities Impact Report for 2021/2022 highlights the valuable support the CashBack programmes provided for 30,106 young people across Scotland.

CashBack for Communities projects provide a range of activities for young people which:

Support people, families and communities most affected by crime
Support those most at risk of being involved in antisocial behaviour, offending or reoffending into positive destinations
Support young people most at risk of entering the justice system
Provides intergenerational support for parents, families and children impacted by Adverse Childhood Experiences

In welcoming the 2021/2022 Impact Report, Keith Brown, Cabinet Secretary for Justice and Veterans, said:

“I am pleased to welcome the CashBack for Communities Impact Report for 2021/2022.

The CashBack programme has been hugely successful in taking assets recovered from criminal activity to deliver diversionary activities and opportunities for young people since 2008. Up to March 2022, the programme has supported around 1.3 million young people across Scotland.

The findings of this interim annual report cover a year when young people continued to be impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic. The report recognises the significant challenges and successes for the 24 CashBack partner organisations in working hard to mitigate the negative impacts of the pandemic on young people.

Young people’s own voices are appropriately very prominent in this report. Their near unanimous support for the CashBack programme highlights the strength of the programme in reaching the communities and young people most in need. The CashBack programme supported over 30,000 young people across Scotland during the year and is now well on the way to achieving the outcomes established for Phase 5. This is a remarkable achievement and underlines the work of the delivery teams, volunteers and of course the young people who participate in and contribute to the success of the CashBack for Communities Programme.

CashBack Partners are to be strongly commended for their proactive implementation of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. In leading on the use of Children’s Rights and Wellbeing Impact Assessments (CRWIAs), the Partners have been able to demonstrate the CashBack programme’s support for UN Sustainable Development Goals and the Scottish Government’s National Performance Framework.”

During 2021/2022, participants were supported and encouraged to improve their capacity, confidence, physical and personal skills, and health and wellbeing.

Image with a blue bar graph on the left. The graph is the number of SCQF qualifications earned by young people. 606 earned level 2; 1,315 earned level 3; 696 earned level 4; 689 earned level 5; 42 earned level 6, and 14 earned level 7. On the right there is a yellow bubble that says, 6,319 other qualifications and accreditations were earned by young people.

Young people were equipped to improve their attendance, attainment, learning and employability to support them towards positive destinations. Participants positively contributed to their communities and gained community-focused awards.

CashBack Partners have been working to further support children’s rights in 2021/22 through implementation of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (“UNCRC”). The CashBack for Communities programme aims to recognise, respect and promote children’s rights, including the right to be treated fairly, the right to be heard and the right to be as healthy as possible.

“the [Children’s Rights and Wellbeing] Impact Assessment at service level really makes you think about your plan, and how will you achieve that…it gives you the opportunity to look at specific parts of your service-delivery and each of the [UNCRC] Articles that pertain to that and look at problem solving.”
Kerry Watson, Service Manager at Cyrenians, CashBack for Communities Partner

In the autumn of 2021, CashBack For Communities surveyed over 850 young people from 22 CashBack partner organisations. They spoke about:

inclusion
community
disability & mental health
their aspirations & their skills
their difficulties with education
what CashBack has meant to them

Speech bubbles with quotes. Quotes are: "I would not normally attend something like this as I don't like being about people that I don't know with having trust issues. The staff and the environment were very welcoming and no one had bad energy. All the topics all tied in and worked well together. All is going well for me at the moment. I am working which gives me routine and something to look forward to - earning my own money."
“A lot of people are struggling because of covid and need help. There is a lot of crime going on in some places that people don’t know about and don’t talk about and that’s why I like coming to the [CashBack project] as the coaches and workers are great. They help me and try to keep us away from what is going on outside.” "Coming to the drop in is important to me as not having any family, it is good to have people around me."

Feedback from young people has shown the importance and value they have found in the CashBack programmes.

Inspiring Scotland would like to thank all of the CashBack for Communities Partners and their wonderful delivery teams. We would like to give our congratulations to all the young people who deserve to be very proud of their hard work and achievements.