Uniformed youth groups celebrate new funding for social action
Five youth organisations are celebrating receiving new funding to promote innovative grassroots social action by uniformed groups.
The second round of the Uniformed Youth Social Action Fund grants, administered by Youth United Foundation, has been funded by the Cabinet Office from LIBOR fines raised from banks for misdemeanours and attempted manipulation of financial markets.
Last year, 14 organisations received funding to increase social action opportunities for young people in deprived areas across the country. This final round of funding totalling £1.45 million specifically focuses on innovative ideas from uniformed youth organisations to reach young people living in disadvantaged areas or hard to reach communities.
The projects, delivered by 5 uniformed youth groups including The Scout Association and Woodcraft Folk, specifically focus on getting young people involved in social action. This supports the #iwill campaign, which seeks to increase the number of young people involved in social action by 50% by 2020.
Some of the winning innovative projects include:
- establishing a Voluntary Police Cadet unit in a young offenders’ institution
- providing transport to children in isolated rural communities to attend Boys’ Brigade meetings
- piloting new approaches to encourage young people with a range of physical and/or learning disabilities to become Scouts
George Osborne, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, said:
I am ensuring that all proceeds from Libor fines go from the few who have demonstrated the worst values to those who embody the best of British values. That’s why I’m proud to be donating £10 million to support uniformed young volunteers who are already making a difference in their communities.
This is just one part of over £200 million in Libor fines that this government has so far donated to causes as varied as last year’s Invictus Games to mental health support for emergency workers.
Rob Wilson, Minister for Civil Society said:
The Uniformed Youth Social Action Fund is an excellent example of how the Cabinet Office is using money collected through LIBOR fines to increase youth social action across the UK. Research from the #iwill campaign has revealed that 4 in 10 young people took part in meaningful social action over the past year which is a fantastic start but we want to continue to encourage more young people to get involved in their communities. These projects will help to build a generation of young people with raised aspirations and greater prospects for their future.
Lindsay Levkoff Lynn, Chief Executive of Youth United Foundation said:
Youth United aims to give every young person in the UK the opportunity to join a uniformed group. It’s particularly exciting today to see the innovative approaches that the successful organisations have come up with to extend their reach into non-traditional areas and among groups of young people who have sometimes been easy to overlook due to difficulties with communication, location or past history.
Full list of grant winners
- Marine Society & Sea Cadets
- The Boys’ Brigade
- The Scout Association
- Volunteer Police Cadets
- Woodcraft Folk