News Insight: O2 puts millions of pounds into young people's ideas

What is Think Big?

It is a corporate social responsibility programme with a difference. Funded by mobile phone company O2, it will put cash directly into the hands of young people to run projects in their local communities, allowing them to address issues on their doorsteps.

O2 has assigned the National Youth Agency (NYA) the job of co-ordinating the programme, while UK Youth will provide training and support to all involved.

How will it work?

The vision is for Think Big to run for at least three years, reaching 100,000 young people both through grants and the projects they fund. The £5m investment will be broken down into £2m for grants and £3m for training, development and support.

O2 chief executive Ronan Dunne says the programme aims to invest in individuals and will back 500 projects each year. Successful applicants will initially be granted £300 and given a day's training. If a project proves successful, applicants can ask for a further £2,500, which comes with four more days of training and access to ongoing support.

Why O2?

O2 ran a programme called It's Your Community, which funded 2,500 projects (see box, right). The experience has led O2 to do more work focusing solely on young people.

Think Big will see around 4,000 O2 employees train as mentors and role models to the young applicants.

O2 is also well positioned to lure young people into participating, with plenty of free phones, gig tickets and internet connections at its disposal.

How do young people apply?

The programme will try to ensure young people from the most disadvantaged backgrounds get the chance to run projects. To ensure this happens, youth organisations that sign up to the programme will help distribute 60 per cent of the funding.

NYA chief executive Fiona Blacke says community youth groups are the best way to reach marginalised young people, who may not have the confidence or skills to apply on their own.

The remaining projects will be chosen from applications made by young people directly through the programme's website. O2 is promising to respond within six weeks.

Blacke says the trust O2 is putting in young people is one of the programme's greatest assets. "What frustrates young people is how slow we adults are. By the time we agree to fund something, they have moved on to something else," she says.

Applicants will be required to provide two references and a panel of experts will be appointed to judge the applications.

What will training involve?

Every young person involved will attend a one-day training course run by UK Youth and held at venues such as O2 shops. Topics will include budgeting, project planning, communicating, and assessing risk and potential health and safety elements.

O2 staff will get a day's training on providing basic support and encouragement to the young people.

Projects set to benefit from more cash also get a residential trip as part of their extra training. UK Youth chief executive John Bateman says training will be lively and interactive. "The opportunity to look at someone else's project, critique it and learn from it is a very powerful mechanism," he adds.

For more information, visit www.O2thinkbig.co.uk.

BUILDING ON WORK DONE: YOUTH-LED PROJECTS FUNDED UNDER O2'S PREVIOUS SCHEME

Lives Not Knives, Croydon, London

Eliza Rebeiro was 14 when a close friend was stabbed to death. Now she says she is a woman on a mission. She began a campaign by printing 100 T-shirts with the slogan "Lives Not Knives".

After selling out quickly, Eliza had another 500 T-shirts printed with the money she earned. The funds collected enabled her to organise a Valentine's memorial ball for people to remember friends who had lost their lives.

Now she is focusing her efforts on young children. She has invited 150 primary school children to talk about their personal experiences of knife crime through art, poetry and storytelling, and is putting together a booklet to be sent to local schools.

Eliza believes if children are made aware of the dangers of knife crime from a young age, they will have a better chance of avoiding it in the future. After she applied to the O2 It's Your Community scheme, the company covered the printing costs of her booklet.

Langrigg House, Carlisle

Twenty-year-old Daniel Boyle is part of a Prince's Trust team in Carlisle. One day he noticed an unused, unloved garden at his local senior citizens care home.

Spotting an opportunity, he set up a project to transform the area into a bright, vibrant outdoor space that the residents could enjoy.

Plans for the garden include putting in a seating area, sorting out a greenhouse, and painting a mural.

When it's finished, Daniel and the team will invite residents, staff, the local council and mayor to an opening ceremony to celebrate the restoration of the space.

O2 supported the project by funding the materials that Daniel and his team needed to complete the job.