Launch of the Youth Investment Fund Phase 2
Guidance on the Youth Investment Fund Phase 2, a £368 million fund being delivered by Social Investment Business, including details on who is eligible and how to apply.
Applies to England
The Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS) is launching Phase 2 of the Youth Investment Fund.
About the fund
The Youth Investment Fund’s (YIF) objective is to create, expand and improve local youth facilities and their services, in order to drive positive outcomes for young people, including improved mental and physical wellbeing, and skills for life and work.
Following a competitive application process, we are pleased to announce that YIF Phase 2 will be delivered by Social Investment Business in partnership with Key Fund, The National Youth Agency and Resonance, on behalf of the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS).
Social Investment Business supports charities and social enterprises to build stronger and fairer communities. They offer funding and flexible, adaptive support to the organisations that make up the social economy, providing them with the tools they need to make a positive difference to the communities they work within.
Applications can be submitted from 01 August 2022.
To apply for the fund and view the detailed guidance visit the Youth Investment Fund website.
Phase 2 of the Youth Investment Fund (22/23 to 24/25) will deliver up to 300 facilities that represent positive value for money, are environmentally sustainable and enable positive activities for young people aged 11 to 18 (up to 25 for young people with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities) in eligible places across England.
YIF is a commitment to young people to transform and level up the out-of-school youth sector. It will provide truly innovative youth facilities in levelling up priority areas, and early-stage/seed resource funding to underpin them, enabling more positive activities that deliver improved outcomes for young people.
The Youth Investment Fund will drive value for money facilities that youth organisations can afford to sustain. Utilising innovative construction techniques, as well as supporting redevelopment projects that expand youth service provision, the YIF will achieve savings on facility running costs, benefiting operators so resources can focus on activities that enrich young people’s lives.
Selected places and methodology
The Youth Investment Fund will level up areas where youth need is high and provision is low, creating a level playing field for young people to have equal access to youth services, trusted youth workers, and dedicated youth facilities that deliver positive outcomes.
Investment is targeted in areas of greatest need and enables local youth organisations in 45 local authorities and over 600 district wards in England to apply. Approximately one-third of all young people in England aged 11 to 18 live in these eligible areas.
The eligible areas have been identified and ranked by a combination of youth need and low provision. DCMS has developed a detailed methodology underpinning the selection of areas.
Eligibility
The lead applicant must be a local authority, a registered or exempt charity, a Community Interest Company (CIC) limited by guarantee, or a Community Benefit Society. This organisation will be accountable for managing the grant.
The funding can be used for new or renewed facilities that will deliver additional positive activities for young people aged 11-18 (up to 25 for young people with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities).
The planned building project will be in a selected eligible area. Check if you are in an eligible area using the Social Investment Business’s postcode checker here.
All grant funds awarded by YIF must be spent by 31st March 2025.
In making funding decisions, Social Investment Business (SIB) will also look to consider:
- To what extent you have involved young people in the development of your project
- The strength of your project
- Your youth offer – that it will expand access to youth services for local young people
- The resilience of your organisation – that the lead applicant has the capacity to deliver your build project(s), and the ability to manage them well afterwards
- The viability of your project – that it can be delivered within the lifetime of the fund (2022-25) and to budget
- How advanced plans for your project are. In project assessment rounds 1 and 2 particularly (to December 2022), SIB will be looking for projects at an advanced stage that could start work within three months
- The additional funding that you have already or will secure alongside the YIF grant