A scheme offering unemployed youngsters jobs in charities is outperforming work schemes run by the UK Government, it has been claimed.
An independent report on the Community Jobs Scotland (CJS) programme said it had so far created 1420 jobs for young people.
The scheme provides six-month long jobs, paying at least minimum wage, in hundreds of charities across Scotland, and many participants have secured permanent posts with the charities or other employers. The latest phase of the scheme has seen 499, or 39% of those taking part, securing long-term employment. Of the remainder 9% started higher or further education and 6% took up voluntary work.
The UK Government's Work Programme claims to have recently improved its success rate, but just under 32% of its 18 to 24-year-old participants find long-term work.
The Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations is now calling for the Scottish Government to invest an additional £25 million in the CJS scheme.
John Downie, director of public affairs, SCVO, said: "The Scottish Government needs to think strategically and take a long-term view. If it invests an additional £25m in CJS, we're confident that the third sector can create 10,000 more jobs for young unemployed people over the next three years."
A DWP spokesman said: "More than 168,000 jobseekers have escaped long-term unemployment and found lasting work through the Work Programme."
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