Stop! Are you using last year's form? Download the 2008/9 form here
Dates for the next round of meetings
Projects funded so far this year (07/08) news article and full list
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?
First, the groups seeking funding gather the infomation they need to get the bids in in time. This year, the deadlines are as follows:
In the month after the deadline, young people meet at Divisional Young People's Forum funding meetings to consider the funding bids.
PLEASE NOTE: They are too busy to view presentations at meetings, so groups should include all relevant information with the application form.
The young people then decide which bids to fund.
The Impact Fund for 2008-09 is now available. The fund is for short term projects with young people facing particular barriers to education, training or employment. Applications can be for any amount up to £5000 and must be made in partnership with other agencies or teams - one of which must be Connexions. You can download the application form here. To get more information or to apply to the fund please email Emily Newson or call her on 01865 815627
Some applications have been coming in on last year's forms, which means they are missing some crucial information. Please help us process your application by making sure your bid comes in on the right form.
The deadlines for the 2008/9 round of funding will stick to this year's pattern, i. e.
You can download a full list of next year's meeting dates and funding deadlines here. For this year's, see below.
You can read about projects funded so far this year in this news article or read the full list here.
Because Oxfordshire County Council believes that Youth Matters, they provide the Chill Out Fund, that can add up to £5,000 to projects and facilities involving young people. This matched funding is available to all sorts of organisations that work with young people, including Parish, Town and District Councils, charities, the voluntary or private sector and any others who work with young people.
All bids need to be able to prove that they have the backing of the young people who the services, facilities or projects are intended for, and they also need to meet the Children and Young People’s Plan priorities:
There are more details on the two forms, one for ongoing projects and events (revenue) and one for one-off purchases (capital).
Next year's Youth Opportunity Fund will run to slightly different deadlines. The deadlines will be as follows:
This is to place the funding meetings at more convenient points in the year for the young people involved in allocating funding.
You can download a full list of meeting dates and funding deadlines here.
Want to know what it's like being a young decision maker? Here's the word from Tony Bookham, who recently attended a Vale Disional Young People's Forum.
Getting involved: I got told about it, and asked if I wanted to go for a trial, and really enjoyed it. The other people had some really good ideas. I went again and I just felt like a part of it.
I liked: being able to make choices, seeing how other people decide and how it happens, being able to talk about how to spend the money.
It's important young people make the decisions: because we are the people who know what children want as we are children, not the adults, as we could want the opposite to what they want.
Advice from the government says that when you're applying, these should be your top three priorities:
Find out more on the Bid 2 Win hints and tips page.
Grant Aid is available from two separate funds, the Youth Opportunity Fund and Youth Capital Fund. But what's the difference?
Briefly, the Youth Opportunity Fund is for events and projects, while the Youth Capital Fund is for facilities, equipment, etc. There are also some other differences, but if you're not sure which one fits your idea, the important thing is not to worry about it too much.
Both funds are applied for on the same form, in fact -- you can apply for money from both at the same time. So don't worry about this, we will decide which funding is appopriate to your bid.
Would you like to be one of the Young People who decides which projects will receive funding? You can get the power by joining your Divisional Young People's Forum.
Divisional Young People's Forums help decide how Oxfordshire Youth Service is run, as well as giving out Grant Aid. There are five Divisional Young People's Forums, for the Vale, Cherwell, West Oxfordshire, South Oxfordshire, and Oxford City.
Divisional Young People's Forums are made up of young people aged 13-19 from the following groups:
Young people can be members of Divisional Young People's Forums for up to two years, to ensure continuity. After that, new members will be recruited, to ensure wide representation.
Young people who join a Youth Forum get training, go on trips and attend meetings where they help make decisions and grant funding to projects. Don't worry about getting overcommitted; members will be able to send a deputy to some meetings if necessary.
You can get involved in your local Youth Forum by contacting your local Youth Centre or by getting in touch by email (remember to tell us the name of your local town, and include your contact details).
We are particularly keen to encourage young people to be involved who don’t normally get to have a say in issues. Perhaps you are a young carer, you may be in housing difficulties or be in the looked after system for example. We are targeting young people like you to get involved.
Do you have news about about the Youth Opportunity Fund or other sources of funding?
We're interested in hearing about your successes, ideas, and experiences of applying for funding, or of granting funding, as part of a Divisional Youth Forum.
Have you had any successes, won funding, or completed funded projects?
