After receiving a £2,500 grant from the John Good Group Grants for Good fund and an Amplify Charity Film from the Matthew Good Foundation, Diversified – Scotland’s first fully autistic youth led charity – has gone on to win the prestigious Charity of the Year Award at the Scottish Charity Awards 2023.
Diversified was founded by Kaydi when she was 14 years old. Having been recently diagnosed with Autism and not having had the support she needed, she did not want other young people to struggle in the same way she had with social isolation. Now just turned 17, Kaydi is running a dynamic and successful neurodivergent charity which helps hundreds of young people and their families. As well as running a range of social groups and an innovative out of school wellbeing and alternative learning service, the charity sells sensory toys online at reasonable prices to increase accessibility and raise funds, has a young persons board, trains youth mentors, and advocates for change so that the education system can better help neurodivergent people.
The Scottish Charity Awards are an annual celebration of Scotland’s voluntary sector organised by the SCVO (Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations). Each year the awards highlight the inspiring people, organisations and projects that have made a big difference to the communities they support across Scotland.
The awards consist of ten categories, with Charity of the Year being one of the most coveted, and for which Diversified were a finalist – up against four other fantastic Scottish charities. The winners were announced at a glittering ceremony hosted by TV Presenter Sally Magnusson at the Sheraton Hotel, Edinburgh on Friday 23rd June, with Diversified announced as the winner of Charity of the Year.
“We are absolutely thrilled to receive this incredible and prestigious award! Autistic young people often don’t get the same opportunities as their peers so to be the first fully autistic youth led charity to be recognised at this level and win this award, is one of the biggest achievements for our neurodivergent youth community. Thank you to every single person, organisation and funder who has supported us and our journey to where we are now, we couldn’t have done it without you and we cannot be more grateful!”
Kaydi Scottsville – CEO, Diversified
The Matthew Good Foundation first came across Diversified in September 2022, when they were one of more than 400 applicants to apply for Grants for Good – a charitable fund from the John Good Group that supports 20 small charities annually with grants from £2000 – £5000.
In December 2022, the Matthew Good Foundation announced Diversified as one of the finalists, providing them with a £2,500 grant. During the process of their application, the Foundation learned that Kaydi wanted to use Diversified as a platform to build advocacy for neurodivergent people across the UK, and so they offered to help the charity with an Amplify Charity Film, which has also been published this week.
“When we met Kaydi, we were blown away by her determination and entrepreneurial approach to making a difference to other young people and their families, and we are over the moon to see Diversified go on to win this award. Their win proves that small charities can have the potential to make a huge impact, if they can just get the investment they need. This can be really challenging when a charity is just starting out and our mission at the Foundation is to get more funding and support to high impact and high potential charities just like Diversified.”
Michelle Taft – Executive Director, Matthew Good Foundation
Grants for Good is a fund from family business the John Good Group, who set up the fund through the Matthew Good Foundation to help them reach small charities and make a meaningful difference with their charitable giving.
“Charities like Diversified are exactly the type of entrepreneurial grassroots projects that the John Good Group want to support because we can see that they are making a huge impact on people and through their work, creating really meaningful change. We are grateful to the Matthew Good Foundation team for highlighting the work of Diversified to us and our employees and giving us the opportunity to get behind them. Huge congratulations to Kaydi and her team for their really well-deserved recognition. We know you are going to go on to do great things and could not be prouder to have been able to help you at the beginning of your journey.”
Adam Walsh – CEO, John Good Group