Projects supporting the education, wellbeing and life chances of care experienced children and young people across Scotland will receive a share of £9.5 million this year, First Minister John Swinney has announced.
The funding was confirmed on the sixth anniversary of The Promise, Scotland’s long‑term commitment to ensuring care experienced children grow up loved, safe and respected, and able to thrive.
The investment will be delivered through the Care Experienced Children and Young People Fund, which forms part of the Scottish Attainment Challenge Programme.
Introduced in 2018–19, the fund recognises that care experienced children and young people often face additional barriers to learning and wellbeing, and therefore require targeted, sustained support to achieve positive outcomes.
Local authorities across Scotland are using the funding to deliver a wide range of initiatives tailored to the needs of care experienced young people. These include:
- Mentoring programmes
- Extra‑curricular activities
- Educational, emotional and wellbeing support
- Opportunities to build confidence, resilience and aspirations
The aim is to improve attainment while also supporting mental health, relationships and wider life opportunities.
The funding announcement reinforces the Scottish Government’s commitment to The Promise, ensuring that care experienced children and young people are supported not only to succeed in education, but also to enjoy good wellbeing and positive life outcomes.
John Swinney, First Minister of Scotland, said:
“Ensuring that all children grow up feeling loved, safe and respected is a top priority for my government and we want to continue to reduce the number of children and young people who are living away from their families.
“The Scottish Government is committed to Keeping The Promise by 2030, and we are seeing good progress across Scotland from education to justice – including a 18% reduction since 2020 in the number of children identified as ‘looked after’.
“The Care Experienced Children and Young People Fund is improving outcomes for young people across Scotland in a range of different ways – driving not only education improvements, but building broader confidence, resilience and well-being.
“The funding we are announcing today, on the sixth anniversary of The Promise, takes the Scottish Government’s total investment in the programme to just over £80 million since 2018 – showcasing how we are delivering for Scotland’s care experienced young people and helping them get the best start in life.”
By combining educational support with mentoring, enrichment activities and wellbeing services, the Care Experienced Children and Young People Fund aims to deliver meaningful, long‑term change.
The Scottish Government says the £9.5 million investment will help councils and partners continue building inclusive, nurturing support systems that put care experienced children and young people at the centre.
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