New fund to help vulnerable young people
Minister for Civil Society Nick Hurd has announced more than £2.5 million funding to change the lives of vulnerable young people.
The funding will help 26 volunteering programmes provide crucial support for young people in vulnerable circumstances, including young offenders and care leavers. The programmes bring together volunteers and community organisations to help solve some of the big issues affecting vulnerable young people.
An estimated 3 million young people up to the age of 18 are vulnerable and disengaged. Many of these fail to reach their potential at school or are not in education, employment or training (NEET).
One social action programme brings together volunteers who open up their homes as temporary emergency accommodation for young people. Another helps young people leaving full-time care by setting them up with a young mentor who can teach them life skills and support them as they move towards independent living.
The grant process
We selected 26 organisations through a fair and open competition process, and awarded grants of between £45,000 and £250,000.
We have awarded the grants through the Vulnerable and Disengaged Young People Fund (which is administered by the Social Investment Business Group). The funding will also be invested through the Centre for Social Action.
Up to 10 large UK businesses will provide free business skills support to these organisations over the course of the grant through the Foundation for Social Improvement (FSI).
Grants awarded
We awarded grants to the most promising initiatives so they can reach many more young people, and show the impact that social action approaches can make. Grant winners include:
- the National Youth Advocacy Service, which will use their £100,000 grant to grow the volunteer peer mentors project to help 100 young care leavers in the North West prepare for the next stage of their lives
- Sova - their grant of £205,000 will allow them to scale up to mentor 280 young offenders in the West Midlands helping them to engage with education, training and employment by removing barriers to engagement, such as low level literacy
- Community Housing Aid for their Nightstop service, where volunteer hosts to provide emergency accommodation in their homes; the organisation will recruit and train new hosts and extend their service into Northern Devon to reach 300 young homeless people or those at risk of becoming homeless
Full list of grants recipients
- Catch 22
- Barnado’s
- Circles UK
- Community Housing Aid
- Family Action
- Greater Manchester Youth Network
- Groundwork Lancashire
- Lancashire County Council
- Media Trust
- Mencap Liverpool
- Midlands Psychology CIC
- North Music Trust
- Norwich and Norfolk Community Arts (NORCA)
- Nottingham Community Housing Association
- National Youth Advocacy Service (NYAS)
- Positive Youth Foundation (PYF)
- Prison Advice and Care Trust
- Prospects Services
- Westminster City Council
- Safer London Foundation
- Sova
- The Care Leavers Association
- Torbay Intensive Adolescent Service
- vInspired
- Voluntary Action Leeds
- Youth Resource Services (YRS)