Participation: NYA lands key role in running opportunity fund competition

The agency, working in partnership with campaigning and marketing agency Corporate Culture and youth-led grant-making organisation YouthBank UK, has been named by the Government as the preferred bidder to co-ordinate the Youth Challenge Competition, scheduled for next March. The arrangement with the Department for Education and Skills (DfES) is subject to contract.

The competition, announced earlier this year by Chancellor Gordon Brown, will comprise a series of local events in the run up to a national showcase (YPN, 27 September-3 October, p4). Government offices are helping the DfES compile a report on the progress made across the country in setting up and marketing the funds, based on mid-year reports recently submitted by local authorities. Feedback indicates that the funds have been enthusiastically received by young people across the country. But a question-and-answer document produced by the department suggests that some local authorities may struggle to meet the requirement of spending their allocation by March next year.