Scottish Young Carers Festival 2026: How PGL Dalguise and Carers Trust Scotland Created an Unforgettable Event

Working with Carers Trust Scotland

When Carers Trust Scotland were looking for a venue to host the 2026 Scottish Young Carers Festival, they needed more than just a location. They needed a residential event venue that could accommodate over 400 attendees, provide flexible spaces, overnight accommodation, catering and a wide range of activities. A place where the vital work the charity do, providing support and well-deserved respite for young carers, could be brought to life. Through exclusive venue hire at PGL Dalguise, located in Perthshire, we worked alongside the charity to create a memorable three-day festival tailored to the needs of young carers across Scotland.

At PGL Beyond, we see the potential in every young person and believe in the power of adventure to help them realise how much they are capable of. Being able to offer PGL Dalguise as a venue for the Carers Trust Scotland, who share many of our values, was a great opportunity.

Planning an event for hundreds of young people requires flexibility, space and specialist support. With exclusive venue hire, Carers Trust Scotland had sole use of the centre, giving them the freedom to shape the programme around their attendees. From accommodation and catering to activity areas and evening entertainment, the entire venue was adapted to support the festival’s vision.

Read more to find out how we worked together to bring their vision to life.

From forest adventures to festival fun

The 2026 Scottish Young Carers Festival took place 4 – 6th August. The annual festival has been running for the past 19 years and throughout it’s history has been hosted at various venues across Scotland. This year it was time to try somewhere new -, throughout 3 days, over 400 young carers came together at PGL Dalguise for endless fun, laughs and unforgettable moments.

The idea of the festival is to allow young carers to have freedom, to do things when they choose to, escape the usual routine and ultimately have a blast while making new friends. To achieve the free-flowing festival atmosphere, we had to think about our processes a little differently and adopt a new way of working. Splitting the centre into 3 fun zones, allowed attendees to explore at their own pace which created an exciting experience for young carers, support workers and PGL colleagues too.

As well as the usual PGL activities, there were also creative and recreational sessions, which included external suppliers offering:

• Cupcake decorating
• Face painting
• Massages and aromatherapy
• Meeting therapy dogs
• Decorating a cap as a memento of the festival
• Seeing and holding reptiles in creepy crawly corner
• And so much more!

Once the sun had set and the daytime activities were over, the fun didn’t stop there, with activities continuing into the evening. Songs were belted down the microphone at karaoke, some impressive dance moves came out at the silent disco and movie night was the place to be to sit back and relax. After all that it was finally time to snuggle up in cosy accommodation for a good nights sleep, surrounded by new friends.

A team effort from everyone

A huge thank you goes to every single colleague that was on centre for the festival, who’s hard work meant the event ran smoothly from start to finish. Their enthusiasm for making sure every young person gained confidence and had fun was felt by everyone at the festival. This is what Ben McInnes, the General Manager at PGL Dalguise said about the team that made the event possible:

“It was a real team effort that included colleagues from Ford Castle and Winmarleigh coming up to support the event, and a huge amount of thanks needs to go to everybody that showed so much flexibility, effort and care to ensure the festival was a success.”

Focusing on the future

One of the things that made this festival stand out, was that in amongst all of the activities and sessions that were running from dawn to dusk, there was an opportunity for young people to make change and shape the future. We were delighted to see John Swinney, First Minister in attendance at the festival, where he spoke to young carers about their experiences and thoughts on the future.

Host your next event with exclusive venue hire at PGL

Hosting the Scottish Young Carers Festival was a joy for everyone involved and we’d love to welcome even more events of a similar nature at our 17 centres across the UK. From Scotland down to Devon, our PGL colleagues are ready and waiting to bring a unique twist to your next event.

Whether it’s a conference, group gathering or a full blown festival like this one, we’d love to hear what you’re planning. If you’re looking for an event venue with accommodation, conference facilities or exclusive venue hire in the UK, our team are on hand to listen to your plans and show you what’s possible at PGL.

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