Young people to shape services through £900,000 fund

The Listening Fund will be shared across 22 youth-focused organisations in England to promote creative mechanisms, from new technology and research to board positions for young people, to make sure young people's voices are heard.
 
The fund will target young people facing various disadvantages, including those leaving care or experiencing homelessness, school exclusion, poor mental health and sexual exploitation and abuse.
 
The collaborative initiative between the Big Lottery Fund, the Blagrave Trust, Comic Relief, and Esmée Fairbairn Foundation is intended to mark a shift in the treatment of young people, treating them as the solution to problems rather than part of them.
 
Jeane Lowe from Centre 63, a youth centre in Liverpool which will benefit from funding, said: "Young people across society today are facing huge challenges, from increasing youth unemployment to unaffordable housing.
 
"We have got to learn to engage them, listen properly to what they say and value their views if we are going to develop and deliver the services they need to meet these challenges. That's why the Listening Fund is so valuable."
 
The 22 organisations sharing the Listening Fund include New Forest-based It's Your Choice, the Kent Refugee Action Network, London's Black Women's Project, and the Prison Reform Trust.