YOUTH ENABLEMENT AWARD
The Youth Enablement Award was established to celebrate the five-year anniversary of the community buyout of the Pairc Estate as the Trust pledged to make an annual £500 award to a young person in Pairc. Over the years, we have helped to support and develop young people in Pairc.
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In 2023, the Board made the decision to increase the fund to £1,000 annually for it to go further and to help more young people in Pairc.
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As of 2025, the fund has been repurposed to support Pairc residents aged 17-30 in fully-funding three driving lessons per successful applicant. By reducing the financial barriers to obtaining a driving licence, the Trust aims to support enabling access to work, education, and independence for young people in the Estate. The scheme is also available to support other licence categories, such as tractor, HGV, and forklift qualifications, in order to further support the development of professional skills and aspirations.
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Applicants must be aged 17-30 and meet one of the following requirements:
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Be ordinarily resident within the Pairc Estate;
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Be a student living away from home, where your parents’ permanent residence is in the Pairc Estate.;
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Have an alternative demonstrable connection to Pairc, such as work or volunteering in the area, or possessing longstanding family ties to the Estate.
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Applications are now open for 2025.
To apply, click the button below:
PREVIOUS AWARDS
Since launching the Youth Enablement Award in 2021, the Pairc Trust is delighted to have contributed to the aims and aspirations of young people within the Estate. You can see some examples of how this funding has been used below:
2024
Due to not receiving any Youth Enablement Award applications in 2024, the Trust used the available funds to organise and hold a Christmas light switch-on event for the community at the Resource Centre.
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The event included festive arts & crafts and treats, music and songs from local musicians, and even a visit from Santa with presents for each child who attended! There was a great turnout from the community, and we were very pleased to see the Christmas season in with good cheer and fun for all who attended.
2023
The Pairc Trust was pleased to contribute to Louise Wilson's efforts to obtain her HGV licence.
Louise Wilson who lives in Habost impressed the board with her personal development. Louise obtained a position with Stornoway Skip Hire & McLaughlin Plant and Haulage and quickly moved into digger driving, telehandler, forklift & dumper operation. Louise is now keen to advance her driving skills to obtain an HGV licence. The funds will go towards paying for the required processes including eye and medical tests, theory test, plus driving lessons and test.
2023
Martha Malcolm also successfully applied in 2023 for funds to invest in a 3D printer.
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Martha who grew up in Pairc is currently in her second year of a HNC Jewellery course at Glasgow Kelvin College. Martha enjoys recreating and stylizing the wildlife around Pairc into her own unique pieces of jewellery. The Mol between Marvig and Calbost was a big inspiration for her as during lockdown her time was mainly spent reading books or painting there, capturing its beauty in silver and often enamel. Martha demonstrated that the award would be used to purchase her own 3D printer. This would give her the ability to create more products for her business and the chance to work on her own 3D printing skills.
2022
Kayleigh Jacques was successful in 2022 and demonstrated that the award would be used to grow her new business ‘Habost Hound Hotel’.
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Kayleigh plans to put the funds towards purchasing new beds, harnesses and other equipment, as well as some agricultural equipment for use on her croft in Gravir as she hopes to start planting crops next spring.
2021
Adam Cheesman was the first recipient of the £500 award who impressed our board members with his entrepreneurial spirt and sustainable use of materials. Adam has been developing a small micro-business producing bird tables, feeders and nesting boxes from reclaimed wood and other recycled materials. Adam invested in additional tools to boost his creativity and productivity to develop future projects.
