A national evaluation of the Children's Fund, released earlier this month, found that young people on the schemes were often bewildered by the cut-off age of 13, which was deemed "too arbitrary" (YPN, 3-9 May, p2).
The Children's Fund has been supporting preventive projects aimed at five- to 13-year-olds since its launch by the Department for Education and Skills in 2000. Some projects are getting around the cut-off point by directing young people to other schemes and services as they reach 13.
In South Cumbria, for example, a junior youth inclusion programme run by crime-reduction charity Nacro, set up in April 2005, offers one-to-one support, outdoor education, arts and sports activities. It gets 84,000 from the Children's Fund and engages about 30 eight- to 12-year-olds at any one time. Young people nearing the end of their involvement are directed to other local schemes, including a Youth Justice Board-funded youth inclusion scheme for older young people.
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