Chat and leave funding ideas

Funding news

Dates for the next round of meetings

Dates and Deadlines for 07/08 funding applications

Projects funded so far this year (07/08) news article and full list

Stop! Are you using last year's form? Download the 2008/9 form here

Other sources of funding: Connexions Impact Funding

Projects already receiving funding: what's going on?

Attending a Divisional Young People's Forum: what's it like?

New page of hints and tips to help with winning Youth Opportunity Fund Grant Aid

Opportunity funds and Capital funds - what's the difference?

Want to help decide who gets the funding? Here's how

Have you heard about the new Chill Out Fund, matched funding for projects for young people? Find out more

About the Youth Opportunity Fund

Projects must be passed by a majority Policy and Aims

One of the key challenges in Youth Matters was to improve the provision of positive activities for young people, particularly those who are disadvantaged, and to provide more places to go and things to do.

Young people should be able to benefit from:

Youth Matters proposed a quantity of resources (money) for young people to decide how to spend in their area – the Youth Opportunity Fund (YOF).

Youth Matters also proposed the Youth Capital Fund (YCF) aimed at helping develop new approaches to improve youth facilities, particularly in deprived neighbourhoods. The involvement of young people, especially disadvantaged young people, is central to this initiative as well.

The plan suggests that the YOF and YCF should be used together to allow young people to develop projects and initiatives which can contain both a capital (facilities) and revenue (projects) element.

The purpose of the funds

The main purpose of the funds is to:

The aim of the YOF is to involve young people, especially hard to reach young people, in identifying positive activities and things to do; and to support their role as decision makers, grant givers and project leaders. There are no restrictions on the range of initiatives and activities that the YOF can support provided that they are supporting the outcomes from Every Child Matters.

The aim of the YCF is to provide a discrete capital budget for a two year period to be spent on what young people want and it is designed to work in tandem with the Youth Opportunity Fund. Arrangements for implementing YCF should allow for the active involvement of young people, with particular emphasis on those who are disadvantaged, in all aspects of planning, delivery, monitoring and evaluation of the YCF.

Young people should be supported as they grow into the role of decision makers, grant givers and project leaders. They should also be encouraged to consider local needs and circumstances as a part of their role in shaping provision for young people beyond their immediate group.

Partnerships and joint-funding with other statutory, voluntary, community and private partner organisations are all to be encouraged as is collaboration with other young people from different cultural and social backgrounds.

YOF/YCF and the Neighbourhood Context

The YOF and the YCF provide the opportunity for young people to shape provision and facilities in their neighbourhood which fits in with wider community development through initiatives such as The Neighbourhoods agenda.

We encourage LAs and their partners to look at how the youth opportunity and youth capital funds can work alongside neighbourhood-based initiatives effectively supporting and empowering young people.

The conditions for spending the funds

The conditions attached to the payment of the funds are:

You can read the full Youth Opportunity Fund & Youth Capital Fund Guidance Notes on the Every Child Matters website.

Who can apply? Who decides what wins?

Taking notes at the meeting means nothing gets missedThere are no restrictions on what the Youth Opportunity Fund can support provided that they support the five outcomes from Every Child Matters:

Applications to the Youth Opportunity Fund should involve young people, (especially hard to reach young people) in deciding on activities and coming up with things to do; adult workers should support their role as decision makers and project leaders.

Applications to the Youth Capital Fund will be available for a two-year period, and money should be spent on facilities that young people want (groups making applications need evidence supporting this).

The Youth Opportunity Fund and Youth Capital Fund can be used together for projects and initiatives which need funding for facilities and activities.

Oxfordshire's Divisional Young People Forums will be deciding how the money is spent and whose applications are successful. Adult workers will support their role as grant givers, e.g. by encouraging the groups to consider local needs and circumstances for young people beyond their immediate group.

Find out more

 

 

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