More than 400 young people from Glasgow’s Holyrood Secondary School – the UK’s largest secondary comprehensive school – positively contributed to their community thanks to taking part in YPI.

The Wood Foundation’s active citizenship programme empowers young people to make a difference while developing a range of skills.

Emma Hernon, Lead Teacher at Holyrood Secondary School, described YPI as “vital” for the school’s young people.

She said: “Participating has given them ownership over something that they feel truly passionate about.

“They worked on a number of skills throughout the process – teamwork, communication, leadership… the list goes on!  

“Our final was phenomenal and showcased a range of talent and creativity from our young people. They were outstanding and definitely made their chosen charities and our Holyrood school community proud. It was such a wholesome experience.”

Gift, an S3 pupil from the winning team, said the group enjoyed “putting their brains together” to work on their presentation.

“It was challenging but really fun and enjoyable,” Gift added.

“Winning the £3,000 for the Glasgow Care Foundation means so much to me – it is a great cause and the money will go to helping so many people and make such a great difference in their lives.”

Glasgow Care Foundation supports low-income families with essential household goods and supermarket gift cards. The charity took to social media to praise the school’s “passionate, engaged, and truly committed” young people. The funds will go directly towards supporting families and individuals in need across Glasgow.

The charity’s intern, who attended the school’s YPI final, described it as a “truly inspiring experience, with impressive presentations from all groups” and said the school was “buzzing with energy”.

Stephen Dennis, IT Operations Manager at Scottish Equity Partners (SEP) – the YPI Community Partner in Glasgow – said it was a “privilege” to return to his old high school to judge last week’s YPI final.

He said: “Judging the Holyrood YPI final was an incredibly rewarding experience. It was inspiring to see the students’ passion and dedication toward their chosen charities and how they had developed their skills throughout the process.

“As an alumnus of Holyrood, it was a privilege to be part of this event and to support the next generation in their development. Well done to all who participated.”

SEP is a leading growth equity investor in enterprise software and technology scaleup companies in the UK and Europe; and has supported YPI in Glasgow since 2017.