[C]ommunity organisations working with young people in Cumbria are being encouraged to apply for funding to get youngsters involved in activities such as campaigning, fundraising and volunteering, and make a positive difference to their communities.
Grants of £1,000 and £5,000 are available from the #iwill Fund, a UK-wide campaign with the aim of getting 6 out of 10 young people involved in social action by 2020. Projects must benefit those aged between 10 and 20, or up to 25 for disabled young people.
Last year, more than £80,000 was shared between 19 social action projects, benefiting 1,500 young people all over across Cumbria.
Chestnut Events in Kendal received £5,000 for its Youth Grows Project. Youngsters aged 15 to 18 have taken part in social action projects with a horticultural and healthy eating theme, developing skills and attributes to build self-confidence and understand the world around them. Many of them have continued to volunteer on an ongoing basis and will eventually create their own marketing campaigns to promote their projects.
Youngsters in Allerdale, worried about mental health issues within their community have been getting valuable support thanks to £5,000 awarded to Ewanrigg Local Trust’s ‘We Will’ project. 8 young people, some with mental health issues themselves and some concerned about their friends, identified that there was a lack of mental health resources available to them. The youth led ‘We Will’ project aims to train 250 people in Youth Mental Health First Aid and has arranged two workshops to bring people together to discuss the issues and opportunities and make campaign plans.
Around 60 local youngsters are being active in improving their local community thanks to £5,000 awarded to Mirehouse Residents Group for its Mirehouse Young Voices project. Members of the local youth group worked alongside the adults to set up a social media presence for young people on the estate to establish a youth voice and start challenging the poor opinions that the older generation often have of young people. It looks at how youngsters can develop their local environment by highlighting areas of concern or improvement from a young person’s perspective. They host inter-generational sessions to share progress, and have cookery sessions to share skills and knowledge that often isn’t passed on.
25 junior school pupils in Barrow have been building their confidence and believing in themselves through learning how to develop and run a social awareness campaign. Furness Future Leaders’ Academy received £5,000 for its Saturday Club project, designed to build the essential skills that local young people, for varying reasons, often fail to learn at school. The students used the 2.5 hour weekly sessions to choose, design, and deliver a campaign in their community with a set budget. They developed skills in leadership, citizenship, resilience, self-management and awareness; teamwork, innovation and creativity.
Annalee Holliday, Grants & Donor Services Officer at Cumbria Community Foundation said: “We want to fund enjoyable projects that build and share skills and demonstrate positive impact on the wider community including simple, basic things like making new friends, trying out new activities and improving life skills.”
The closing date for the next round of applications is Friday 3rd August. For more information or to apply visit www.cumbriafoundation.org or contact the grants team on 01900 825760.
