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The National Lottery Community Fund and the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) yesterday announced an additional £12 million funding to the #iwill Fund, helping to support young people from all backgrounds and areas to access high quality social action opportunities.

The #iwill Fund is a joint investment between The National Lottery Community Fund, the largest funder of community activity in the UK, and the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. Both funders have each announced an additional £6 million taking the total investment to £66 million. The #iwill Fund distributes its investment by working in partnership with other funders to create an environment of learning and mutual collaboration.

Since launching in 2016 the #iwill Fund has worked in collaboration with over thirty Match Funders that match #iwill Fund monies on at least a £1:£1 ratio and develop #iwill Fund projects. This new funding is primarily aimed at Match Funders that are new to the #iwill Fund and are developing their own youth social action funding projects through grant funding to other organisations.

Nigel Huddleston, Minister for Civil Society and Youth, yesterday said:

"We know that participation in social action, such as volunteering, fundraising, and campaigning, can have a transformative impact on the lives of young people.

“The #iwill Fund is creating projects and programmes to make this happen, so I'm very pleased that this £12 million funding boost will significantly enhance the opportunities for young people to learn and come together across the country.”

The National Lottery Community Fund is committed to ensuring the voices of young people are heard and supporting them to prosper and thrive. In the last five years, it has awarded more than £1.2 billion through almost 15,000 projects and programmes to support young people – making it the leading non-statutory funder of opportunities for young people in the UK.

David Knott, Chief Executive at The National Lottery Community Fund, yesterday said:

“The work of the #iwill Fund has had an incredible impact on young people over the last six years, helping to develop their skills and capacity to significantly contribute to their community. Thanks to National Lottery players and Government investment, this further funding will be invested into providing even more opportunities for young people, so they can help create prosperous and thriving communities and make a positive difference to their own and others’ lives.”

Click here for the full press release