A scene from the first-ever course – delegate Alison Debling of Argyll and Bute Council holds forth at the Young Scotland Programme in November 2002...

The Young UK and Ireland Programme, now entering its seventh year, develops talent in the workplace and the community.

It aims to "stretch the minds, stir the consciences and broaden the horizons" of people who have left full-time education and are in the early years of their working lives.

The programme fulfis this ideal through an annual series of intensive and challenging residential courses.

Although the minimum age for entry on the programme is 18, there is no upper age limit: delegates may be young in years, or in terms of professional development, or both. People who have recently come late to a career, for example, are positively encouraged irrespective of age.

...and the winning group from the Young Local Government Programme 2007

The programme aspires to recapture the spirit of Inveramsay, a remote settlement in rural Aberdeenshire where railway workers in the 1920s created an informal library and meeting room in a shack on the station platform. The shack, nicknamed "Utopia", became a centre of debate and discussion, often long into the night, about "everything in heaven and earth". This combination of idealism and independence of thought inspires and animates the programme.
Many delegates are sponsored by their employers, including central and local government, public bodies, the health service, professional organisations and business. In Scotland, people who work voluntarily in the community are supported by members of the Institute of Contemporary Scotland, organisers of the Young Scotland Programme.

The programme is essentially a meeting of minds, enlarging understanding of the world we live in and encouraging delegates to think more deeply about the bigger picture. Each course offers its participants a rare opportunity to exchange ideas and experiences in an atmosphere of openness and mutual trust; to engage with authoritative guest speakers; and to articulate their own views through the written word as well as in debate and dialogue.