Scottish Youth Mentoring Children
nurturing potential and trust in community
Ecologia Youth Trust is delighted to announce the expansion of its activities and the launch of our first Scottish programme – Growing2gether. We aim to develop our work in Scotland, creating the opportunity for us to address the growing needs of Scottish children and young people. We welcome Lady Diana Whitmore to spearhead this initiative. Having founded two successful charities over a 35 year career in the Third Sector, Diana is well placed to lead this initiative.
We intend to support the many initiatives of the Scottish government which seek to close the attainment gap, give Scottish youth the best possibility for success in their lives and equip them with the social capital, life and work skills necessary to do so. Together with our young people we can liberate a wave of creativity and potential to create a more positive future, one which values the contribution that they have to make.
We are excited to be launching Growing2gether in three secondary schools in the Highlands in January 2017 as the first expression of Ecologia’s Scottish initiative and look forward to many more programmes in the future. Young people will become mentors to small children who need additional support. This will give them volunteering and work experience, a responsible job to do and a respected role in their community where they have an opportunity to build self-confidence, self-belief and to re-engage with their education in a positive way.
Liza Hollingshead
Executive Director
November 2016
Find out more about Growing2gether, our new programme in Scotland, here.
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*Names have been changed according to our child protection policy.
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Susie has 30+ experience as a creative copywriter, editor, and proofreader, starting out as a 20-year-old copywriter in the Mad Men world of early 1990s advertising in South Africa. Ever since, she’s had a love affair with creative conceptualisation, thinking outside of the box, writing to a deadline, and being thrown in the deep end!
She took an MSc in Publishing at Edinburgh Napier University as a mature student, in 2015, and continues to keep herself busy working as a copy-editor, proofreader and copywriter in book publishing, corporate communications, and publishing project management.
Apart from her love of working with independent authors, Susie has a fondness for working in the third sector and likes to use her corporate communications and marketing experience to support projects close to her heart. She has lived and worked in the Findhorn area for 25 years, and has been involved in a number of third sector projects and organisations, and family businesses.
Working at Ecologia Youth Trust helps Susie to live in integrity with her values of supporting the next generation to be the best that they can be, and she sees it as a way to give back to Mama Africa, the beloved continent on which she was born.
Ellen joined the Ecologia team in June 2018 as Marketing and Communications Manager. Ellen has lived in Scotland for 6 years and has worked for non-profit and charitable organisations across varied fields. She currently shares her passion for helping young people through Ecologia Youth Trust and she works as a dancer and dance teacher in her spare time.
Robyn is the Associate Director of International Projects, having previously worked within the team as a Project Development and Marketing Officer from April 2019 until May 2021. As Associate Director, Robyn is co-leading the International side of Ecologia with Founder and Director, Liza Hollingshead, bringing a new energy into Ecologia as they look towards the future of the charity.
Liza is the founder of Ecologia and Director of International Projects. She was born and educated in South Africa and worked there as a high school teacher. She moved to live in the Findhorn Community in 1974. She started Ecologia in 1995 after being introduced to Dmitry Morozov, the founder of Kitezh Children’s Community in Russia, and was inspired to support the community in its mission to rescue orphaned children from institutions and give them homes, families and education in a supportive environment.
This led to projects supporting disadvantaged youth and children in South East Asia and in East Africa. TRead more about Liza’s story here.
