Guidance

Uniformed Youth New Groups Fund Grant Competition Guidance

Updated 26 September 2022

This was published under the 2019 to 2022 Johnson Conservative government

Applies to England

1. Summary of Grant Funding

The Department of Digital, Culture, Media and Sport is providing £1.5 million of grant funding for Uniformed Youth Organisations to establish new groups/units in deprived areas in England, currently underserved by uniformed youth organisations. An assessment panel, appointed by DCMS, will review bids from eligible organisations using the evaluation criteria set out in section 8 to determine which organisations should be awarded funding and the amount awarded.

For the purposes of this grant award process, organisations eligible are those who are a recognised body within the Youth United Network (excluding the Army Cadets and Air Cadets). This grant will provide resource funding only, to be utilised in the Financial Year 2022/23. Applicants should outline their proposed projects, alongside a scaled budget.  DCMS will cover administration costs between 2-6% of the total funding awarded.

The deadline for applications is 23:59 Sunday 25th September 2022.

2. Purpose

2.1 Fund Overview

The £1.5 million Uniformed Youth New Groups Fund, aims to establish new uniformed youth groups in deprived areas of England, in communities currently underserved by Uniformed Youth Organisations. The fund aims to create approximately 2,200 places for young people aged 10 - 18  to access activities which enable them to develop their skills for life and work and support their mental and physical wellbeing.

This fund supports the National Youth Guarantee, creating access to regular clubs and activities, trips away and opportunities to volunteer, as well as meeting government’s levelling up priorities.

2.2 Fund Objectives

The objectives of the Uniformed Youth New Groups Fund are:

• To open new uniformed youth groups in deprived areas, currently underserved by Uniformed Youth Organisations. The Uniformed Youth New Groups Fund will aim to create approximately 2,200 places for 10 - 18 year olds.
• Improve the wellbeing of young people and help them to develop skills for life and work by expanding the reach, number and range of regular activities for young people that drive these outcomes.
• Support Uniformed Youth Organisations to build their internal capacity to scale up sustainably.

2.3 Target Group

The target group this fund should help are:

• Young People aged 10 -18 in IMD 1-5 Upper Tier Local Authority Areas in England or areas eligible for the Youth Investment Fund currently underserved by uniformed youth services

3. Organisation Eligibility

To be eligible to apply for the Uniformed Youth New Groups Grant Fund, organisations must:

• Be a recognised body within the Youth United Network (excluding the Army Cadets and Air Cadets)
• Have a robust safeguarding policy
• Have a national developmental programme
• Be predominately volunteer led

Your organisation will also need to pass our due diligence checks:

• The grant award does not exceed 50% of your annual income, as an example: if an organisation applied for a £500,000 grant, the collective annual turnover needs to be £1,000,000 or more in order that the grant is not more than 50% of the annual turnover/income.
• We have received and reviewed at least 2 references
• If you have been funded by another part of government, we seek feedback from that department
• You are not already receiving funding for this project from government, meaning your project is funded twice
• Trustees are not related and there is no indication of fraud
• Where multiple organisations are located at the same postcode, there is no indication of fraud – if you do have the same postcode as other organisations you will be asked to provide an explanation
• You are able to provide an annual report and audited or certified accounts, covering the last two years or similar documentation.

Please note: in the event your last financial year end was more than 6 months ago we may request further accounting information at a later date as part of the due diligence process.

3.1 England programme

The Uniformed Youth New Groups Fund is provided by the DCMS Civil Society and Youth directorate, which funds activities which directly or indirectly benefit the whole or part of England (whether or not they also benefit any other area). It cannot fund programmes that are purely beneficial to those outside England.

4. Funding

4.1 Availability

The Uniformed Youth New Groups Fund is a £1.5million fund available in the Financial Year 22/23. 10% of the fund is available to support organisations to increase their internal capacity and capability to sustain these new groups long term.

All funds awarded must be spent by 31st March 2023.

There is no maximum or minimum amount of funding that may be requested. Applications will be assessed against the evaluation criteria set out below in section 8. Applications with a project of suitable quality, which meets the objectives of this fund will be eligible to receive funding. The funding amount awarded may be less than that requested.

4.2 Usage

The Uniformed Youth New Groups grant funding must be spent on establishing new groups in areas in IMD 1-5 Upper Tier Local Authority Areas in England or areas eligible for the Youth Investment Fund to serve new communities, currently underserved by Uniformed Youth Organisations.

A minimum of 75% of places created must be reserved for young people residing in the IMD 1-5 Upper Tier Local Authority Areas or Youth Investment Fund areas. Places created must be for young people between 10 - 18 years old.

10% of the fund is available to support organisations to increase their internal capacity and capability to sustain these new groups long term.

The funding may be spent on the following activities:

• Opening units in specified geographical areas that serve new communities
• Restarting groups that have been closed for at least 6 months due to Covid
• Staffing to support projects
• Start-up grants for new units
• Marketing to attract new volunteers and young people
• Training volunteers or staff to support new units/groups
• Activity to support volunteers to become group leaders
• Infrastructure costs - this may include improvements to digital, CRM and websites, hiring of venues and establishing local governance
• Equipment that will expand and enrich youth activities offered by uniformed youth groups, e.g., outdoor activity equipment, programme resources and training equipment
• Administration costs related to delivering the project between 2-6%

This list is not necessarily exhaustive and DCMS is happy to receive clarification questions up to 15th September 2022 on any additional activities that may be permissible and are not specifically prohibited below.

The funds may not be used for:

• Expanding existing uniformed youth groups to increase provision
• Academic research
• Advocacy and lobbying
• Appeals
• Arts
• Campaigning and awareness raising
• Capital expenditure
• Core costs - other than for those that can be evidenced as directly related to the project outlined in the application
• Contributions to reserves
• Costs for which funding for has already been received
• Fees for professional fundraisers;
• Individuals
• Party political organisations
• Pension costs
• Projects outside our funding priorities
• Promotion of religious beliefs
• Purchase of buildings or venues
• Rapid response to emergency situations
• Repayment of debts or loans
• Retrospective funding, where expenditure has been incurred prior to the grant award date
• Schools, colleges and hospitals
• Services run by statutory or public authorities - we will not support work that is a statutory duty. However, we welcome applications for projects working in partnership with statutory organisations and those involving both the voluntary and public sectors, provided they are led by a voluntary organisation
• Staff redundancy or redeployment costs
• Vehicles
• Work delivered outside of England

4.3 Financial Requirements

Please note: The DCMS financial year runs 1 April to 31 March. If successful, drawdown requests and budget must fit the DCMS financial year.

Payments will be made quarterly and in arrears. You will need to provide a breakdown of actual, eligible expenditure in order to make a claim. We will only pay out the amount you can evidence as spent.

Variations between proposed drawdown amounts and actual drawdown requests across quarters of the same financial year will be accepted, with explanation and justification. However, we will not be able to vary funds across financial years. Any funds not drawn down by the end of the financial year will become unavailable.

DCMS makes payments in arrears and only pays in advance by exception. If you wish to be paid in advance, you will be asked to explain and justify your reasons in your application, this includes ensuring that your request fits with one or more of the ‘payment in advance’ criteria outlined in the application form. Your request will be considered as part of the assessment process. If your application and request to be paid in advance are approved, you will be expected to provide quarterly reconciliation details for the duration of your project detailing any underspend against funds received. You will be required to reconcile any underspend before further funding is released. You will also be required to complete a formal Financial Reconciliation Statement (FRS) form at the end of the financial year.

Whether paid in arrears or in advance, you must be able to transparently report on a quarterly basis and provide evidence of expenditure of the use of the Uniformed Youth New Groups Fund. The Uniformed Youth New Groups Fund must be shown as restricted funds in your accounts and you must be able to identify separately the value and purpose of the grant in your audited accounts. You will be asked to describe the financial management systems and processes you will put in place to ensure you can achieve this in your application.

5. Grant Monitoring and Reporting

DCMS is committed to robust monitoring and evaluation of grant funding, proportionate to the size and length of the grant. Successful applicants are expected to:

• Provide monthly financial and performance monitoring data returns for the grant funding period. DCMS will provide a template for returns.
• Attend monthly monitoring meetings to report on the progress of grant awards (based on the monitoring returns) and update on risks/slippage on spend
• Work with the independent evaluation partner and/or DCMS to support design of the evaluation and collection of relevant data for the overarching process and impact evaluation.

6. Evaluation

DCMS will separately commission an independent evaluation for this fund, in conjunction with the National Youth Guarantee. Successful applicants must work together with the appointed evaluator.

The evaluation will likely include both process and impact strands to understand the reach and delivery of the projects, as well as its impact on young people. We expect that the evaluation will utilise data and evidence collected/generated by the successful applicants. See Annex 1 for an indicative list of data measures we are interested in.

We expect this evaluation will continue into FY 23/24.

7. Application Process

7.1 Timeline

The below timeline is indicative and subject to change.

Fund opens for Applications	8th September 2022
Clarification Workshop	10:30 - 11:30 am 9th September 2022
Clarification Questions Deadline	23:59 15th September 2022
Publication of Clarification Questions	16th September 2022
Deadline for Applications	23:59 25th September 2022
Application Assessment	w/c 26th September 2022
Funding Level Discussions (if required)	3rd and 4th October 2022
Notification of Grant Awards	w/c 3rd October 2022

7.2 Instructions for submitting Applications

Application documents available via gov.uk include:

• Uniformed Youth New Groups Fund - Guidance (this document)
• Uniformed Youth New Groups: Grant Application Form (see attachment at top of page)
• Annex 1: Monitoring Requirements
• Annex 2: DCMS Standard terms and conditions of Grants

Applications for this grant fund must be submitted by 23:59 Sunday 25th September 2022 to michaela.wragg@dcms.gov.uk and tasnia.chowdhury@dcms.gov.uk with the subject line: Grant Application - [Organisation Name] - Uniformed Youth New Groups Fund.

Any applications received after the closing date will not be assessed.

You will not be contacted for clarification or further information. It is your responsibility to ensure your application is concise, fully completed and that you supply all necessary supporting documentation.

The only instance where a government official may contact you is where the level of funding you have requested cannot be met and a lesser amount is being offered. In this case, you will be invited to consider a lesser amount and may be requested to submit a summary of activities, outputs, outcomes and budget (realigned to fit the revised funding on offer) for consideration. If contacted under these circumstances, please note that the time frame for providing your initial response may be very short.

8. Assessment

8.1 Evaluation Criteria

A panel will assess the bids. Please assume that assessors have no or limited background knowledge of your organisation, its aims and what it does. It is therefore important that your application is as clear, concise and unambiguous as possible.

1. Initial sift

We will review your application to check that the information in the body of the application meets the eligibility checklist.

2. Individual evaluation of eligible bids

We will then score eligible bids in line with our key criteria.

The table below sets out what we are looking for, the weighting in the bid evaluation, and the questions we will use to make our assessment.

Measure	Weighting %	Questions Related
Project Proposal: Applicants must be able to clearly explain the project or projects to be completed by 31st March 2023 and how they have or will involve young people in the co-design of the project.	25	2.1, 2.2
Project Delivery: Applicants must demonstrate the organisation’s capacity and capability to deliver the project(s) set out through a clear plan which will result in young people joining a uniformed youth group	20	3.1, 3.2, 3.3
Benefit: Applicants must demonstrate how this project will benefit young people, the wider community and/or their organisation.	15	4.1
Sustainability: Applicants must demonstrate how they will ensure their project remains sustainable after funding has finished	15	5.1
Monitoring and data: Applications must include outcomes to be measured (number of beneficiaries etc) and outputs (resources created etc), agree to regular monitoring of KPIs and set out how they will share lessons learned. DCMS will appoint an evaluation supplier and the grant recipients will be expected to work with them to complete an evaluation proportional to the size and length of the fund.	10	6.1, 6.2, 6.3
Financial Management: Applicants must set out the financial management systems and processes that will be used to ensure Uniformed Youth New Groups Fund grant expenditure is accounted for accurately and transparently. The Applicant should also set out the organisational approach to managing Fraud.	15	8.8, 8.9
TOTAL	100

Applicants must provide a working budget for their project. Applications will not be assessed on the amount of funding requested, however, it would be beneficial if budgets were scalable (i.e. ensure projects remain viable if less funding is available).

3. Moderation of scores

We will moderate scores and discuss levels of funding for each successful bid, should the total requested be less than available.

4. Funding Level Discussions

We will discuss with you options for alternative levels of funding if necessary. Your application should include a scaled budget to help facilitate this discussion.

5. Due diligence

All successful applicants will be subject to comprehensive due diligence reviews and other database searches, including fraud risk indicators. The relevant documentation is expected to be provided alongside your application form. A checklist is provided in the Application Form.

6. Final confirmation

Upon successful completion of due diligence, we will issue the final confirmation of the successful applicants.

9. Application form guidance

9.1 General tips

• There are a number of guidance notes contained in italics in the application form, please read these carefully and respond to all relevant points. Please delete or overtype the information in square brackets once you have read and understood it.
• Write clearly and concisely avoiding the use of jargon or abbreviations; remember that the assessor reading your application may not have a background in your field of expertise.
• Do not exceed stated word limits.

9.2 Section 1 - Organisation details

This section requires you to input details relating to the lead organisation; we welcome applications from consortia, but require one organisation to take the lead role as the applicant, main point of contact, payee for funds, and responsible body who agrees to ensure the terms and conditions of the grant offer are upheld by all involved.

Please ensure that the contact details given are for the day-to-day contact for all enquiries relating to the project application.

If applicable, you should list all consortium partners involved in the project –

it is expected that partnership agreements are already in place, or that you have correspondence from authorised representatives at each partner organisation, that confirms involvement in the project and acknowledges submission of your application

If applicable, you should list all the delivery partners involved in the project - please complete this section if you are applying as a single organisation but intend to work with other organisations to deliver the project

9.3 Section 2 - Project overview

Through this section we want to understand:

• How the activities and outputs you are proposing will meet the objectives and longer term goals of the grant funding
• How this activity fits with your growth strategy
• how well your proposal fits with the target groups we are interested in
• How you have or will involve young people in the co-design of this project

This section is worth 25% of the assessment.

9.4 Section 3 - Project delivery

Through this section we want to understand how well placed you are to co-design and deliver on your proposal at pace. We will assess the project plan and project team skills alongside the capacity and capacity of your organisation to deliver your project to ensure your programme meets the objectives and longer term goals of the grant funding.

This section is worth 20% of the assessment.

We are looking for applicants to:

• demonstrate a track record of projects of a similar scope and/or scale
• give us confidence in the experience of key staff and their roles in the project
• set out a clear project plan that gives us confidence the organisation will be able to mobilise quickly.
• give us confidence that they will ensure that the funds are spent in the timelines of the fund.

9.5 Section 4 - Benefits

Through this section we want to understand how this project will benefit young people, the wider community and/or your organisation. Please ensure to include:

• How many young people your project is going to reach
• How the project will reach those individuals who would otherwise not be able to access uniformed youth groups. If your project has a wider catchment area outside of the specified geographical areas what percentage of young people benefitting from this project come from those areas?

We are particularly interested in projects that will ensure a high representation (at least 75%) of young people from the target areas.

This section is worth 15% of the assessment.

9.6 Section 5 - Legacy and Sustainability

Through this section we want to understand how you will ensure your project will have long term benefits to the organisation, community and young people. We are particularly interested in how you will ensure the groups established will be supported and sustained once the Uniformed Youth New Groups Fund has finished.

This section is worth 15% of the assessment.

9.7 Section 6 - Monitoring and Evaluation

Through this section we want to understand that you are willing to work collaboratively with an independent evaluation supplier and that you have the capacity and capability to effectively collect data to monitor the progress and impact of this funding. We are also looking for applicants to demonstrate how they will utilise learnings from the funding in their organisation and how they will share learnings more broadly.

This section is worth 10% in the assessment.

9.8 Section 7 - Equality and diversity statement and safeguarding statement -

This requires details of your organisation/consortium’s approach to equality and diversity and safeguarding. It is critical for the safety and wellbeing of staff and volunteers delivering the Uniformed Youth New Groups Fund, and project target groups, that it is delivered in an equal opportunities and diversity framework and with a rigorous safeguarding policy.

This section is pass or fail in the assessment.

9.9 Programme finances - section 8

Through this section we want to understand how your organisation will ensure the robust financial management of this funding and ensure value for money.

We will not assess your application on the level of funding requested, although you should submit a scaled budget to support discussions on funding level should this be necessary.

This section is worth 10% in the assessment.

We are particularly interested in applicants demonstrating:

• Robust internal processes to monitor and account for the Uniformed Youth New Groups Funding
• Clear safeguards to prevent Fraud

9.10 Eligibility and Mandatory document checklist - Section 9

We have provided you with a quick reference checklist to ensure you are eligible to apply for this funding and have included all the documents you need to submit as part of your application.

Please use the checkboxes to indicate which documents you have / haven’t included.

9.11 Authorisation - Section 10

Your application form must be signed by someone with the authority to represent your organisation in making the application, for example: the CEO, the head of finance, or the head of the board of trustees.

10. Grant Award

10.1 Acceptance of funding

DCMS will aim to notify all successful applicants w/c 3rd October 2022.

Your grant offer letter will set out the level of funding and any additional conditions that apply specifically to your grant. The letter will also set out what the grant is for and the payment schedule. Once we have awarded a grant, we will ask you for regular financial and performance monitoring reports and a final project report at the end of the funding term.

Please note:

• Grant money will not be paid until we have received your written acceptance of the terms and conditions attached to your grant offer
• You must acknowledge you have received our grant in your annual report and accounts covering the period of the project
• If there is any breach of the terms and conditions, or your organisation ceases to operate before the grant has been spent, grant monies may have to be repaid
• When the grant ends, the Uniformed Youth New Groups does not have a commitment to provide any further funding for the project
• Anyone found to be acting dishonestly in making an application for funding or spending the grant will be reported to the police and may be liable for prosecution.

10.2 Grant terms and conditions

The DCMS draft terms and conditions for grant agreements is available on the gov.uk website. The terms and conditions are non negotiable. Submitting a proposal means acceptance of the terms. You should not seek to amend the terms and conditions.

10.3 Unsuccessful applications

We will inform all unsuccessful applicants by 17th October 2022. We will issue written feedback.

Please note that the decision will be final.

11. Advice and support

All available information and guidance relating to this grant funding is contained in this document.

DCMS will hold a clarification meeting 10:30 - 11:30 am Friday 9th September 2022 via google meets. If you would like to attend please contact michaela.wragg@dcms.gov.uk.

Clarification questions may be sent to michaela.wragg@dcms.gov.uk and tasnia.chowdhury@dcms.gov.uk up until 23:59 15th September 2022, after which no more will be responded to.

All clarification questions will be anonymised and made public so that all potential applicants are able to access any additional information.

As the application process is competitive, we are unable to provide support in completing the application.