Youth Opportunity Fund (YOF)
Youth Opportunity Newsletter
The Youth Opportunity Fund provides budgets for young people to control and decide how money should be spent on positive activities and youth facilities in their area.
NEW - Funding now available...Information Packs for YOF and YCF at the bottom of the page.
Funded activities must support the five Every Child Matters outcomes, benefit the local community and offer good value for money.
The involvement of young people, especially disadvantaged young people, is central to the Funds. Giving young people genuine influence over local services is recognised as the most effective way of ensuring better access and increasing participation in positive activities.
Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead has £160,000 for two exciting new funds designed to enable you the opportunity to become actively involved in funding and running activities and facilities in your neighbourhood.
Youth Opportunity Fund (YOF)
Each year this fund will be used for things you would like to do and places you would like to go in your area. This means you will be able to make decisions about how the money should be spent and you can apply for projects and activities that young people would like to do in your area. YOF activities could include: residentials, DJ workshops, art projects, purchasing of sports equipment etc.
Youth Capital Fund (YCF)
This fund is different because it could help you change and buy new premises for your projects or build a youth space within an existing community. Youth shelters and playground equipment are just a couple of things that this pot of money could be used for.
The two funds have been designed to work together, so you can use the YOF for your activity (project) and use the YCF to buy your premises and equipment needed to run the project.
The main aim of the funds are to:
- Give a voice and influence to young people, particularly those facing disadvantage, in relation to things to do and places to go and convey a powerful message to young people that their needs and aspirations are important
- Change the way local authorities and their partners commission and provide activities and facilities for young people, especially in deprived neighbourhoods, and increase the responsiveness of providers to what young people want.
- Improve things to do and places to go in line with what young people want in their neighbourhoods and thereby increase their participation in positive activities
- Provide opportunities for young people to develop confidence, knowledge, skills and abilities and gain recognition and or/accreditation for them.
- Increase the well-being of young people by contributing to the achievement of the 5 ECM outcomes through engagement in activities that have a positive impact on their development
- Increase young people's engagement with their services more generally and with democratic processes at local level
