#YSAttain: Supporting the wellbeing of young parents facing additional barriers
The 'Attainment Challenge: National Strategic Partnership #YSAttain' is a partnership between Young Scot, the Scottish Government, several local authorities, Transport Scotland, the Improvement Service and the National Entitlement Card Programme Office.
We’ve been working with partners across several local authorities to raise the attainment of young people living in poverty. We've been helping our partners use the smart-enabled Young Scot National Entitlement Card (Young Scot NEC) in innovative ways to improve young people's health and wellbeing.
One of our partners is Dundee City Council, and we’ve been supporting them to offer free meals, bus travel and additional Young Scot Rewards linked to health and wellbeing to young people facing financial barriers.
We recently chatted to some of the young people taking part in a local young parents group about their experience of taking part in #YSAttain.
Access to free bus travel
Each of the young parents we spoke to talked about the big difference that access to free bus travel makes in their lives.
“It has given me much more freedom, especially as a mum. I have been able to take my girls to lots of places around Dundee. We have visited lots of different parks across Dundee such as Camperdown park, Baxter park, the beach in Broughty Ferry, the new waterfront and its urban beach. The girls have really got a lot out these experiences. It has given us the freedom to try new places that we would not normally go to.”
The free bus travel also helps young people to maintain connections with family and friends, which are a vital part of a young parent’s support network:
“My family is really important to me and I like to spend time with them, the boys get to see family and their cousins which they love to play with. My family live on the outskirts of the city and we have to get two buses to visit them, which can be really expensive. The free travel helps me get them to nursery, especially when the weather is bad.”
The positive impact that free bus travel has on their wellbeing and social life was echoed by another member of the #YSAttain programme:
“I am quite shy; the free travel has helped me get out and about more and meet new people. This is very important to me as I want my wee girl to get out and about as much as possible and get the chance to meet new people, and try new things to help her become more confident experiences that we may not be able to do together because we may not be able to afford it. I currently go to a volunteering training/internship program and free travel has helped me get to this much more easily. I hope the new skills and work experience I am getting will make me more job ready for when my daughter starts nursery. Without the free travel I don’t think I would be able to always get to my groups, or sometimes struggle for bus money to get to training.”
Arranging hospital and doctor appointments for their children and not having to worry about the extra travel expenses has been highlighted as another benefit:
“One of my sons has had some health issues and having free travel has made it much easier to get to hospital appointments without having to worry about how to get there and takes some of the stress about planning journeys much easier, my bus fare is not something I have to worry about.”
Access to free meals at a local café
Along with access to free travel, the young people taking part in #YSAttain in Dundee get free meals from a local café using their Young Scot NEC.
One of the young parents we spoke to highlighted the benefit this has had on their wellbeing and ability to connect with other young parents,
“Me and the boys will often meet other young mums in the cafes before or after our group and we can chat, support each other and the kids can play and socialise together. We often use this to meet up, have some food and then take the kids to different places. I feel that my boys are not missing opportunities that they may have if I couldn’t afford to take them too.”
One of the young mums also enjoys the health benefits that come from having access to healthy food options:
“Making sure I eat well to be able to keep up with my boys is important and I know I can always get a healthy meal. I take the boys with me and because it is a community café, I know I can get healthy meals for them for a cheap price. ”
Closing the attainment gap using the Young Scot National Entitlement Card
Through implementing the #YSAttain programme, we ensure that young people can get support in a stigma-free way, as one young mum put it:
“One of the things I really like about the scheme is that no-one needs to know why I have free bus fare and fee meals, it is just on my Young Scot Card. It doesn’t say that I am part of a project getting these because I can’t always afford it. I don’t have to explain myself. I don’t feel the same shame or be embarrassed. The staff in the café are friendly they just accept the card, they have got to know us as Katie and the boys, and I feel that I am not judged. The free bus travel is just the same as other people who get free travel for lots of different reasons.”