For Funders

This page covers Evidence of Need, Outcomes, Case for Support, a Youth Worker’s Story and Looking Ahead.

Evidence of Need

Muirhouse is an area of deep-seated deprivation that falls within deciles 1 & 2 in the Scottish Government’s Social Indices of Multiple Deprivation (SIMD). This means there are significant and long-term barriers to be overcome to enable young people to break the cycle, make positive choices and truly flourish. Consequently, MYDG’s youth development team is strategic, creative and tenacious in planning and implementing appropriate programmes, evaluating them robustly, and capturing child and youth-friendly evidence of impact. 

Typically, the challenges MYDG overcomes arise from a high proportion of:

  • children and young people from low income families, larger families, or those who are care-experienced

  • poor school attendance and attainment with a high proportion of additional support needs

  • parents and carers not in full-time education, employment and training

  • crime rates including assault and violence, sexual offences, house breaking, vandalism and drug offences which all compound to make life very challenging

Muirhouse has a culturally diverse population with between 21% and 30% comprising black, asian and ethnic minority groups. MYDG welcomes young people from all backgrounds and is sensitive to different cultural and faith-based needs.


Outcomes

In the last financial year (April 2024 to March 2025), MYDG spent £271,463 on frontline services, supporting 600+ children and young people. This means a cost/benefit ratio of £452 per participant which is very significant given the needs we’re meeting and the outcomes we’re achieving.

At MYDG, we know our work is impactful because we have robust evaluation measures in place. Below is a summary of the experiences gained by young people and the outcomes we achieve for them. Where possible, we also assess the far-reaching impacts of our work on families, within schools and on sustainable funding.

Experiences gained by young people

Children and young people experience MYDG as a place where they: 

  • Feel safe, supported and valued as individuals 

  • Enjoy new, enriching activities alongside peers

  • Participate in outdoor and physical activities and trips

  • Build friendships and develop self-confidence

  • Have agency to influence and shape youth work programmes

  • Enjoy racially/culturally-sensitive acceptance and support

  • Broaden their horizons through volunteering, mentorship and progression routes to employment

Outcomes achieved 

Children and Young People 

  • Gain improved wellbeing, better able to manage and regulate their emotions

  • Grow in confidence, self-esteem and aspirations

  • Are increasingly able to participate more fully in education, friendships and community

  • Make more positive lifestyle choices

  • Commit to meaningful work experience that improves their prospects

Families

  • Parents feel supported, enabling family and community relationships to strengthen 

Wider Systems Level Change 

  • Focused youth development work is recognised and valued as having far-reaching, life-changing impacts

  • School leaders and teachers show greater recognition of youth development work as a means of overcoming challenging behaviours amongst pupils, leading to increased cooperation and access to school facilities to support programme work

  • Programmes are embedded and funded longer-term creating greater sustainability and impact


Case for Support

To read our Case for Support for ‘unrestricted’ grants please click here.

We understand that many funders prefer to give ‘restricted’ purpose grants for frontline services. However, it’s so important that we have a secure base from which to deliver frontline work, so we need ‘unrestricted’ grants and donations to cover running costs and allow us the flexibility to respond to needs where they are felt most urgently.

A Youth Worker’s Story

“Having been involved with MYDG since the age of 12 as a participant and throughout my whole adult life starting as a volunteer and transitioning from sessional staff to full time worker, I have experienced first hand over the 21 years the impact that youth work has on a young person’s life (present & future). Personally it helped me overcome anxieties I had as a teenager from a low income family & helped me feel included, giving me life experiences from social skills, outdoor learning, overnight camps & simple trips during the holidays that otherwise I couldn’t afford! Having left school at 15 with very little qualifications, MYDG helped me to gain many accreditations in practical activities such as bike maintenance, sports, and outdoor learning which had a massive impact on my confidence after feeling failed by the schooling system. By the time I was 17 I was ready to broaden my horizons and MYDG took me on my first experience of flying to a youth exchange in Germany which completely changed my views on different cultures & showed me the world is bigger than Scotland. In 2012 I had the honour of meeting Prince Charles, being an Olympic torch bearer and finishing off with 3 months volunteering in Borneo, this was the best and most memorable year of my life. All of these life changing opportunities I have MYDG to thank for! Now being a full-time youth worker I get to witness young people on their own journeys, sharing similar experiences to mine while trying to help shape them into the best versions of themselves providing them with vital skills that will help them throughout their future. Having spent almost two-thirds of my life being involved with this charity I have gained a real connection & commitment to changing the lives of young people in North Edinburgh.”

Looking Ahead

MYDG’s strategic plan puts a focus on delivering more early intervention work, achieving scale by enhancing and expanding programmes, ensuring good use of the Pilton Retreat, and reinstating trips that were paused in lockdown and during the cost-of-living crisis. These trips, some in Scotland and some overseas, were enormously beneficial in giving young people fresh perspectives, experiences and aspirations that helped shape the future course of their lives.


For more information contact sarah@mydg.org.uk