Wigan's annual allocation for the youth opportunity fund (YOF) was £189,634, and £164,018 for the youth capital fund. The council decided from the beginning to run the funds through a partnership with the voluntary sector.
Kelly Mills, development worker at Wigan Council for Voluntary Youth Service, has been supporting the panels, helped at various stages by participation workers from the borough's youth service.
Who is on the panel? The initial panel of seven young people was recruited by inviting a select number to a recruitment event. Sheila Martland, strategic manager for youth work at Wigan Borough Council, says: "We contacted a lot of hard-to-reach groups such as those with learning difficulties and disabilities, lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender groups, black and minority ethnic groups and others based on principles of social inclusion. We ended up with an excellent panel that's a good representation of young people across the borough."
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