Shanklin Voluntary Youth and Community Centre and UKSA are to benefit from a cash injection as the Government begins to deliver on its £380million Youth Investment Fund.
The fund has been designed to create, improve and expand local youth facilities and services across the country, to support young people’s health, wellbeing and skills for work and life, no matter where they live.
£12million of funding has been fast-tracked to local youth services where supply is currently far short of meeting demand. This will help to level up access to services, trusted youth workers and dedicated facilities for young people.
Here on the Isle of Wight, £8,295 has been awarded to Shanklin VYCC to fund filmmaking and photography equipment to provide children and young people, who have limited access to learning and training activities, with accessible creative learning opportunities and technical skills development.
A much larger £47,000 is going to UKSA in Cowes. The grant will enable this sailing charity to buy 10 kayaks, 24 windsurfs and 24 paddleboards, plus related equipment, so that more disadvantaged young people can take part in activity programmes, improving their physical and mental wellbeing.
Nigel Huddleston, Minister for Sport, Tourism and Civil Society, said:
“We want every young person, no matter where they’re from, to have the chance to get the best start in life.
“Today we are firing the starting gun on the rollout of our National Youth Guarantee and putting more money into improving access to youth services where it is most needed.”
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Today’s announcement forms part of the Government’s ‘National Youth Guarantee’ that will ensure young people right across England are given access to more activities, trips away from home and volunteering opportunities, backed by a £560million investment.
The pledge will mean that by 2025, every young person in England will have access to regular out of school activities, adventures away from home and opportunities to volunteer as part of the Government’s commitment to level up opportunities for all young people. This includes all 11-18-year-olds, and up to 25-years-old for those with special educational needs and disabilities.
The application process for the remaining £368 million tranche of the Youth Investment Fund is expected to begin in Summer 2022. Youth services across 45 local authorities and over 600 district wards in the most deprived parts of England will be eligible to apply.
