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ASPS helps Scottish youngster fulfil their potential on a Raleigh expedition.

Educational development charity Raleigh International will be able to offer more young people from Scotland places on one of their forthcoming transformational expeditions thanks to a generous donation from the Association of Scottish Police Superintendents Association ASPS).

The £8K donation from the ASPS and Logica, one of this year’s Conference Sponsors, was gratefully received on Raleigh’s behalf by Fiona McNeilly, at the ASPS’s annual conference in Dunblane last week (Friday 16 May).

The money will be used by Raleigh to fund places for young people from Scotland who wouldn’t otherwise have the opportunity to go on an expedition.

Raleigh expeditions are renowned for their ability to inspire and transform the lives of young people and the remote communities that they work with in countries as diverse as Malaysia, Costa Rica and Nicaragua and India.

Fiona, who herself was given a bursary to fund her Raleigh place to Costa Rica and Nicaragua in 2006, collected the cheque from Chief Superintendent Valerie McHoull, ASPS’s first female president.

Since her inspirational Raleigh expedition – organised through Raleigh’s Youth Partnership Programme – Fiona has gone on to pursue a career in the charity sector and has recently secured a full time position with Quarriers, a support organisation for young people, representing the views of young people at both an organisational and national level through the Scottish Youth Parliament.

“Raleigh was a life changing experience for me,” said Fiona. “It gave me the chance to concentrate on myself and reflect on what I wanted to do.

The whole experience was an eye-opener and showed me how lucky we are in Scotland and what we take for granted.

Having the support and experience from Raleigh gave me the confidence and motivation to take my future forward, and now I have achieved more than I ever thought I could have.”

Carol Forfar ASPS General Secretary said “We are delighted to support Raleigh and to ensure that young Scottish people can enjoy the benefits that Fiona has; Chief Superintendent McHoull added “It is apt that the topic of our conference this year is Global Forces – it seems to us that Raleigh is a global force for the development of young people!”