12 November 2020
Yesterday UK Youth launched the UK Youth Fund with a slightly different approach than usual. We are asking youth organisations across England to complete a short questionnaire telling us more about the impact of Covid on their organisation and the young people they seek to support.
Not another survey I hear you cry!
We know there have been a lot of surveys in the last nine months asking you different questions about the work you do and how you’ve been affected by the pandemic. The truth of the matter is, even with all of these surveys, we still don’t have enough robust data and insight needed to unlock the funding the sector and young people so desperately deserves and needs.
Through this period, UK Youth have been working hard to unlock additional funding and we’ve been met with the same questions each time. What funding has been lost? What is the impact on youth provision across England? What are the barriers and opportunities facing organisations? How many organisations are at risk of closure? What are the priorities for supporting young people now and in the future as we recover?
We need more robust answers to these questions. That’s why we’re asking every youth organisation in England to complete this questionnaire. We promise you it won’t take long and the information you give will provide us with the information we need to unlock more funding for your work. We are committed to unlocking millions more pounds for youth organisations and with your help we can do it.
As we launch the fund, we’re proud to announce the first pot of funding we have been able to secure. Thanks to funding through the Community Match scheme from DCMS, matched by Pears Foundation and Paul Hamlyn Foundation we have been awarded £2m to award grants to small youth organisations across England who have not been able to unlock the crisis funding they need to survive.
We’re not launching a separate application process, but instead asking organisations to complete the questionnaire as normal and we’ll use the answers you provide to make decisions on how we award funding. So not only will you be doing amazing work providing us with lots of insight, you’ll also be entering your application for funding. You’ll hear by the 14th December if you have been successful.
Organisations who are not eligible PLEASE, PLEASE still complete the questionnaire. The information you provide will be invaluable and if we unlock funding in the coming months, we hope to use the answers you provide to help us award funding without having to ask you to complete another application form.
We’re all so excited at UK Youth as we launch the UK Youth Fund and share our ambition to ensure all young people are equipped to thrive and empowered to contribute. We believe passionately in the power of youth work and remain committed to ensuring that the youth sector is strengthened, supported, and that provision is youth-led, evidence-informed and delivers high-quality outcomes for all young people.
This is the first in a series of blogs around our new approach to the UK Youth Fund.