I am the co-founder of The WHY Project, a local youth work charity based in Wester Hailes, the community I live and grew up in.

Almost 6 years ago, we started the charity and we now have clubs, 6 days a week, with 10 regular groups for approximately 120 young people, including drop-ins, Saturday breakfast/lunch club, holiday programmes, hot food and signposting support for families. Our ‘Wee Haven Youth Clubs’ are in local community centres and we create safe spaces for young people, with a home away from home feel - warm, comfortable and relaxing.

There are a wide range of fun activities on offer, including sports, pool, table tennis, arts and crafts, computer games, cooking. Alongside this we run topical and education workshops around key issues; sexual health, drugs and alcohol, mental health, bullying, gang culture, racism, social media. We also provide opportunities to for learn new skills and gain formal accreditation through awards programmes.

During the school holidays, we run holiday programmes for young people and their families which include trips, activities and experiences that would otherwise be difficult to afford; including country parks, beach, zoo, funfair, bowling etc.

Most of our general provision is for young people but providing these trips for the whole family to enjoy, including parents and children of all ages, positively impacts the wellbeing of the young people we work with.