by Nakhat Zahir (Funding Advice Worker)
17 August 2010
BIG has launched Youth in Focus, a new £30 million England-wide funding programme, which will provide vital support for young carers as well as other vulnerable groups.
The groups we’re targeting are:
• Young carers - Helping young people between the ages of 10 and 25 to be heard and get better access to practical advice and services, which can support their day to day lives.
• Young people leaving care - Supporting young people between the ages of 15 and 25, so they get better access to education, housing, healthcare and employment advice and services.
• Young people leaving youth offenders’ institutions - Helping young people between the ages of 15 and 25 to develop their life skills and get better access to services, particularly young men with learning difficulties and young women.
We want to fund projects that work with the young people we’re targeting to:
• improve confidence, skills and knowledge - so they can better deal with the life events that affect them
• provide more effective support that is joined up with other services - so they can tackle challenges better.
To bring about these changes we’ll expect applicants to:
• target one or more of the groups that our Youth in Focus programme aims to support
• involve the young people who will benefit throughout, from the earliest stages
• form a partnership of voluntary, public or private sector organisations with relevant expertise, led by a voluntary sector organisation
• make sure that the benefits of the project carry on after our funding ends, and
• share what they have learnt with us and others.
Are you eligible?
You can apply to Youth in Focus if you are a partnership led by a voluntary and community sector organisation.
If you would like any further information please call 0845 4 10 20 30 or email
youthinfocus@biglotteryfund.org.uk
