The Chill Out Fund provides matched funding for projects for young people.
Chill Out Fund still has a little money left, bids must be in before Feb 13th 2010
Bidding for the 2009/2010 Youth Opportunity Fund and Youth Capital Fund is now closed. Look out for new application forms in Feb/Mar 2010
Want to appeal a decision? Download the appeals form and guidance
Youth Opportunity Fund and Capital Fund: download the new application form and guidance notes for 2009/10
Unlucky? Try some of these other funding sources
Attending a Divisional Young People's Forum: what's it like?
Bidding for the 2009/2010 Youth Opportunity Fund and Youth Capital Fund is now closed. The Chill Out Fund has a small amount of funds remaining please get bids in by 13th February 2010 for the meeting on 2nd March.
Look out for new application forms in late Feb/early March 2010.
Please note that no funding can be awarded retrospectively
The forms have been re-written for 2009-10, and a new guidance document has been produced, in response to feedback. Download:
Please be advised that the first meetings to assess applications will be taking place in May, so you have plenty of time to make your application.
Young people will meet at Divisional Young People's Forum funding meetings throughout the year to consider the funding bids, and decide which to fund.
If your request for funding from the Youth Opportunity Fund or Youth Capital Fund has been turned down, you can do two things. You can appeal the decision, or you can submit a new application.
You should download, fill in and send in the Appeal Form and Guidance if:
You should contact the Participation Team and discuss how to strengthen your application, and then reapply, if:
I've been passed a plea from the people who are processing the applications. Before you fill in your application form, please read the Funding Guidance Notes in full. It contains the information you need to make your application correctly, as well as guidance on ways your can make your Youth Opportunity Fund application successful. There have been major changes since last year!
The Application Forms for the Youth Opportunity Fund and Youth Capital Fund 2009-10 have been updated, and some of the rules have changed, so please download and read the new Funding Guidance Notes in full.
You can download the application forms either as a PDF or as a Word Document, depending on which you find most useful.
Forms should be returned to:
Ruth Kempson,
Macclesfield House,
New Road,
Oxford OX1 1NA.Or by email to ruth.kempson@oxfordshire.gov.uk
Because Oxfordshire County Council believes that YOUTH MATTERS, we have set up a fund of £100,000 revenue and £100,000 capital to support work with children and young people across the county.
The 2009-10 funding round for the Chill Out Fund has just opened, for positive, constructive leisure-time projects for young people aged 8-19 (up to 24 for young people with learning difficulties).
For more information about the fund, please download the application form.
Bids should be received a minimum of 10 working days prior to a meeting date and applicants will be notified that their bid has been received. The meeting dates are as follows:
You might have a project that's great, but not quite right for the Youth Opportunity Funding. What then? These other great organisations also provide funding for projects for young people. Why not see if one of them fits the bill?
N.B. We are unable to offer support or advice for any funding other than the Youth Opportunity Fund and Chill Out Fund, please contact the grant-giving organisations for more information and advice.
There will be no deadlines for the 2009/10 funding rounds, applications may be submitted at any time and will be considered at the next available meeting.
Interested in finding out about projects funded so far? We publish lists of projects funded annually, and there are also some news stories.
Want to know what it's like being a young decision maker? Here's the word from Tony Bookham, who recently attended a Vale Divisional 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 hints and tips page.
There are 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, and you can apply for money from both at the same time.
There's more information about this on the Funding Guidance Notes.
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?
