The Big Lottery Fund (BIG) grant to Public Service Broadcasting Trust (PSBT) will enable the expansion of the Fixers social action campaign for 16-to 25-year-olds.
The programme allows young people to choose and develop campaigns that will be useful to the community and help other people.
More than 5,000 young people in England have already taken part in 600 Fixers projects, amassing more than 100,000 hours of voluntary work between them.
So far young people have chosen a broad range of campaigns on problems they have often personally faced, including tackling negative stereotypes of minority groups including gender, race, sexuality and mental health issues.
With the new investment PSBT is aiming to involve around 21,000 new Fixers over a period of four years.
Peter Ainsworth, Big Lottery Fund UK chair, said: “Fixers has already proven that it can make a difference to young people within their communities by creating innovative campaigns that address issues of their choosing while helping change negative stereotypes.
“As a result young people have become great community champions and communities are strengthened to overcome challenges through engaging in positive social action.”
Margo Horsley, chief executive of the Public Service Broadcasting Trust, said Fixers offers young people the opportunity to address an issue they are passionate about, with the proviso that they make a difference to someone else.
“I have been humbled by the effort and commitment that these young people have shown in making their contribution to society in their individual ways.”
Fixers create events, workshops, publications, films, adverts and posters, as a means of getting their message across.
They take their campaigns into schools, youth clubs, local authorities, community groups and service providers.
