New fund to help vulnerable young people
2 May 2014 10:40 AM
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)