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Through strong partnerships with HMP & YOI Polmont and Police Scotland, the Rangers Charity Foundation is helping young people gain skills, confidence and purpose after custody.

The Rangers Charity Foundation’s CashBack for Communities – Towards New Futures programme supports young people as they prepare for release from custody, helping them build bridges back into their communities. Central to its approach is formal collaboration with prison authorities and law enforcement, especially at HMP & YOI Polmont, and later with Police Scotland in sessions at the Ibrox Community Complex. By combining relational support, skills training, and trusted partnerships, the programme is reshaping what rehabilitation and transition can look like for young offenders in Scotland.

Supporting Young People from Custody to Community

Recent Scottish Government statistics show that the number of young people under 21 in prison has fallen significantly over the past decade. In 2009-10, there were on average over 1,000 people under 21 held daily, making up about 13% of the prison population. By 2022-23 that number had dropped to 159, representing just 2% of the prison population.

Remand remains a challenge: in 2022-23, half of under-21s in custody were awaiting trial or sentencing, reducing access to consistent programmes. By 2023-24 that figure had dropped to around 36%. At a time when fewer young people are in custody but those who are often face complex challenges, collaborative interventions are more crucial than ever.

Building Skills and Confidence at Polmont

Much of the Foundation’s work begins in Polmont, where, in the weeks before release, staff deliver day sessions to prepare young people for life outside. Foundation CashBack Coordinator, Zander Carruth and Prison Officer, Gregor Young, work closely to create informal employability and life skills workshops.

“For me, delivering in prisons and YOI’s is important because we deal with people who have 12 months left on their sentence,” Zander explains.

“It gives them an idea of what’s expected when they’re released… it shows that there’s hope and that there are training opportunities as well.”

“As the weeks go on, you actually see that they’re very relaxed and comfortable with you. So, it allows you to build these bonds, which knocks down barriers as well.”

Gregor, who has supported young offenders for over eight years, highlights the difference this collaboration makes: “Partnership working means the doors can still be left ajar when young people leave Polmont. So, I value partnership working a lot.” He notes that young people often gain qualifications here that they never achieved in school: “I see pride, I see happiness and a touch of excitement because for a lot of them it’s the highest attainment level of qualification that they’ve ever achieved.”

The impact is perhaps best expressed by the young people themselves. One participant described his early time in custody as full of frustration:

“When I first came in, it was different to what it is now. I was constantly fighting, and I was stuck in my cell myself most of the time.”

“After a while, employability came down and spoke to us and started to explain what I could be doing while I’m here… Working towards qualifications makes me feel more positive about things because after all, I’ve earned that award and I feel like I’ve learned more in Polmont than I did when I was at school.”

He went on to reflect on the importance of purpose: “If you’re not working towards something then you’re just going to be behind a door or locked up 23 hours a day. But if you’re sitting doing nothing 24/7, you’re just going to go back and be the same person you were before you came in here.”

For those who opt in, the connection does not end at the prison gates. On release, young people are invited to Ibrox to take part in the full CashBack programme. Here, they find familiar staff, familiar approaches, and a safe place to continue their journey.

Zander reflects: “It bridges that gap between release and employment… they’ve already got that trust, that relationship with us. They know what to expect, and that gives them a chance to continue what they started they’re released.”

A Bridge Between Custody and Opportunity

At Ibrox, the CashBack – Towards New Futures programme runs over eight weeks, blending employability workshops often with invited industry partners, mentoring, and community activities. But just as importantly, it offers consistency. Instead of facing a cliff edge, young people step into a supportive environment that feels like a natural extension of what began in Polmont.

A distinctive feature of the Ibrox programme is the involvement of Police Scotland. Community Officer, Keiran Trayner, attends for four sessions during each cycle, delivering workshops on knife crime, hate crime, and other community safety issues.

Partnership Working That Breaks Barriers

“The nature of our work here is all based on relationships,” Keiran explains. “The Foundation gives us an audience to engage with… These participants wouldn’t turn up to listen to the police. But through the programme, we get that chance to build up a rapport, deliver key topics, and help them avoid encountering the police in the future.”

Keiran emphasises the informal style of delivery: “The participants see the relationships we have with the Foundation staff, and that rubs off.”

“By the end, it builds up a positive view that the participants have of police officers.”

The approach makes a tangible difference. Keiran recalls: “Here, we can provide knowledge and experience around key topics, and it gives participants a chance to listen to other role models within the community.”

By the end of each cycle, relationships often look very different. “One participant didn’t really give us a warm welcome in the first week. He had a lot of negative dealings with the police. By week four, he was playing football and darts with us. A few weeks later, I bumped into him on the street. He shook my hand, and we had a wee conversation. That is something that wouldn’t have happened without this programme.”

Changing Lives and Reducing Reoffending

This collaborative approach is achieving outcomes that go beyond what any single organisation could deliver. Young people are leaving custody with qualifications, increased confidence, and reduced hostility towards authority figures with many progressing into education, training, or work after continuing to progress following their liberation.

Nationally, reconviction rates for young people remain a challenge, but evidence shows that strong community links and purposeful activity can reduce the likelihood of reoffending. By supporting young people before and after release, and by involving trusted community partners, the Foundation is contributing to this broader shift.

In a system where the youth custodial population is shrinking but risks of reoffending remain high, the Towards New Futures programme provides a model of how collaboration can create meaningful change. For young people at one of the most critical turning points in their lives, those barriers broken, those relationships built, and those choices supported can make all the difference.

CashBack for Communities is a unique Scottish Government programme which takes funds recovered through the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 and invests them into community programmes, facilities and activities largely aimed at diverting young people at risk away from potentially criminal or anti-social behaviour.

For more information on the Foundation’s CashBack programme please contact CashBack Coordinator, Zander Carruth, on: zandercarruth@rangers.co.uk