Mayor's Young Londoners Fund
Derren Hayes
Monday, June 24, 2019
The Mayor's Young Londoners Fund was established in 2018 to help children and young people to fulfil their potential, particularly those at risk of getting caught up in crime.
So far, 179 London projects have been awarded £20m through the first round of funding, covering activities from theatre groups and employability training to football clubs and art sessions.
The second round, launched in May, is to target projects aimed at supporting young people in the capital's high crime areas.
How much is available?
The fund will see £30m made available for projects in local communities.
For round two, organisations can bid for a share of £15m through two different streams: small and medium-sized grants of up to £150,000; and large grants of between £150,000 and £1.5m.
The remaining £15m is being invested to expand existing projects funded by City Hall that support young Londoners. This change has been introduced following round one feedback.
The application process for larger sums is more comprehensive than that for small- and medium-sized grants.
Organisers expect to allocate around two-thirds of funding to projects supporting those at risk of exclusion or involvement in criminal activity and one-third to projects supporting those who have been involved in criminal activity.
Which organisations are eligible?
All organisations are eligible to apply - including local authorities, other statutory organisations and for-profit companies - as long as they meet the aims of the fund and are not excluded on the basis of the other criteria listed. For example, organisations must be able to provide financial records for at least a year.
Local authorities can apply as partners with other organisations. If an authority is the lead applicant, it must provide support to its partners or consortium members - for example, by helping them with monitoring, assessing their impact, approaching multi-agencies and staff training.
All lead applicants must have a track record in delivering support for young people and have at least one year of audited accounts.
Recipients of round one funding can apply for round two if additional funding will "add value" to the current project.
Who should projects help?
Organisations that support young people aged 10 to 21 who are either at risk of exclusion or involvement in criminal activity, or who have been involved in criminal activity, can apply.
Applicants must outline the proportion of young people in both groups that it expects to support.
Projects will be delivered between October 2019 and September 2022 for small grants or January 2020 and December 2022 for medium and large grants.
The fund is looking to support projects embedded within their local communities, so it is important to show how embedded in the community the project will be and why this area has been specifically chosen.
What is the process?
The lengthy application forms have three stages:
- Part 1 seeks organisational information and confirmation of essential requirements for the Young Londoners Fund. Applicants will be advised at the end of this section if they can continue with their application.
- Part 2 is comprised of questions about the nature of the project and who it will be supporting.
- Part 3 is comprised of scored questions which will be assessed using a scoring mechanism. This takes into account the strength of evidence, impact and value for money, appropriateness of activities and capacity to deliver.
After proposals have been assessed and scored against the assessment criteria, the decision on which projects to fund will be based on a range of factors including the specific group targeted, geographical spread of bids and the scale and level of funding requested.
What are the key dates?
Applications for all size grants close at 12 noon on 12 July. Small grant bids are assessed up to the end of August, while medium and large grant bids are assessed up to 13 September.
Successful small grant applicants will be informed in the week commencing 9 September, with delivery due to begin the following month.
Interviews for medium and large grants take place from 16-27 September with decisions due week commencing 14 October, with delivery beginning in January.
- More from: www.london.gov.uk
Funding roundup
- The Youth Endowment Fund has launched an open call round to fund and evaluate interventions primarily targeting young people aged 10-14 at risk of being drawn into crime and violence. Funding of up to £200,000 per year for one or two years is available to organisations in England and Wales. All successful grantees will as a minimum need to have a clear theory of change that explains how they reduce offending, informed by available evidence.
- Thousands of disabled children and young people in the care system will be able to have a say in how they live their lives, thanks to a £60,000 grant from London Freemasons to the charity Coram Voice. The grant will allow the charity to help an estimated 2,000 more young people over the next three years, giving children and young people with disabilities equal access to advocacy as other children in the care system.
- PATH - a new EU-funded project which will enable women, families and healthcare professionals to prevent, identify and successfully manage mild and moderate perinatal mental health issues has been awarded more than €5m of European funding. The initiative involves 13 partners from France, Belgium, the Netherlands and the UK, including the Institute of Health Visiting, Southampton City Council and Kent County Council.
- Not-for-profit youth organisations that support young people aged 14-25 facing disadvantage can apply for grants of between £10,000 and £60,000 through the Paul Hamlyn Foundation Youth Fund. The funding is available for up to two years and applications can be submitted at any time.