Youth groups gain social action funding for deprived areas

The nine successful bids were chosen from the dozens that applied to the National Youth Social Action Fund because of their innovative ideas for increasing participation among hard to reach groups.

First announced in July, the joint Cabinet Office and the Pears Foundation initiative aims to help young people based in deprived and rural areas to take part in social action opportunities.

Voluntary and volunteering network Youth United is among the nine to benefit from the funding, which will be used to pilot a “sharing scheme”, along with national charity UK Youth, which will train young ambassadors to run their own social action projects.

Blackburn youth zone, which is run by youth charity OnSide, has also been awarded funding to create an inclusive youth social action project, while the National Federation of Young Farmers’ Club will give young people the opportunity to develop and plan their own projects.

The Cabinet Office is yet to reveal how much each organisation has received, but youth minister Rob Wilson said the money will enable organisations to tackle the challenges facing disadvantaged young people and "help embed social action in their lives".

Lindsay Levkoff Lynn, chief executive of Youth United, said its 11 members will use the funding to pilot in one area a system that maps locations where social action takes place, such as Scout huts, the times they are used and their constraints. It will also talk with other local providers, such as churches and schools, to identify where more space is needed.

“Instead of making the issue around accommodation and space - something that each individual activity has to sort out - you can almost do it more collectively,” she said.

“So eventually if the pilot worked and we go nationwide, you would have an online tool where any troop leader or youth organisation could login and say [for example] on a Thursday for two hours I need space for 20 people every week, and that way they can find out what is available, where it is and how much it costs, and the prices will be much more affordable."

Levkoff Lynn added that the system cpould help reduce youth organisations' costs.

"Accommodation is actually one of the highest costs items so if you can do something to bring that cost down then hopefully you can serve more young people,” she added.