Kirklees Youth Council. Grant Scheme. (Winter 2013) Grant Scheme. Kirklees IYCE Programme Brian Jackson House New North Parade Huddersfield HD1 5JP

Transcription

1 Kirklees Youth Council Grant Scheme (Winter 2013) Kirklees IYCE Programme Brian Jackson House New North Parade Huddersfield HD1 5JP ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Grant Scheme Huge recognition goes to:

2 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Thank you to all of the Youth Councillors who contributed to the success of this grant scheme. Their involvement has been instrumental from the conception right through to the distribution of funds. Special thanks to: Afsha Munir Tim Potter Matthew Levene who formed the grant panel. Also a big thank you to all of the young people who took the time out to apply for funding and the adults/ organisations that supported them. INTRODUCTION: Young people led grant schemes are not a new approach to identifying and funding projects and activities that meet the needs of young people in Kirklees. In fact, over the years the IYCE team have developed and managed a number of long-term grant schemes for both children and young people in Kirklees. 1 All of these had different criteria but shared the same common philosophy that children/ young people were able to come up with their own project ideas which met their needs and that their peers would be responsible for making the decisions about which projects would be funded. Due to the end of many funding streams, there are currently no such young people led grants schemes in Kirklees. However, the need for activities and projects that meet their needs still exists. This report aims to give a brief outline of the Kirklees Youth Council (KYC) Grant Scheme, an overview of the projects funded, key emerging messages and recommendations for the future. It also aims to provide some insight into the creative ways young people have identified as how their needs can be met. 1 Such as Kids Count, MAC (Make A Change), YOF (Youth Opportunities Fund) and YCF (Youth Capital Fund) 1

3 BACKGROUND: In 2011, KYC led a consultation project for the Kirklees Children s Trust to support the development of a young people s priority for the Children & Young People Plan (CYPP). Almost 700 young people aged were asked what their main priorities for change were. They identified their top priority as Money, Jobs and Opportunities. This was subsequently adopted by the Children s Trust Board and incorporated into the Kirklees CYPP which was a huge accolade as it was the first time ever that a priority identified by young people in Kirklees was recognised and subsequently incorporated into a high profile working document such as the CYPP. A recent evaluation of the KYC identified many successes alongside some areas for further development. One of the areas for development was giving the Youth Councillors more credibility by enabling them to make some financial decisions through the creation of a small young people s grant scheme. Funding a grant scheme in Kirklees would also enable local and national strategic priorities and agendas such as Positive for Youth and Kirklees CYPP to be met. In 2012, cabinet agreed that a total fund of 3,000 would be made available to fund a young people s grant scheme which would be managed by KYC and by November 2012 the KYC grant scheme was launched in Kirklees. 2

4 AIM OF GRANT SCHEME: This scheme was set up to encourage and enable young people to put together the kind of projects that they wanted and needed to improve their skills for the future workplace. It also gave them valuable decision-making experience in choosing which of the projects received the funding to go ahead. Cllr Mahboob Khan (Leader of the Council) In response to young people s growing concern around Money, Jobs, & Opportunities, the aim was to create a grant scheme that would fund project ideas from groups of young people aged between 13 to 19 years who live in Kirklees, to improve young people s skills and experience relevant to their future employment or financial wellbeing. Clear criteria were set which allowed groups of young people to apply for up to 500 to help them lead, organise and deliver activities/projects in their own local area that would promote economic well-being amongst them and their peers. Applications received were judged against a set list of criteria by members of Kirklees Youth Council (KYC) who were responsible for making the decisions about what projects would be funded and how much funds each would be awarded. They formed the Grant Panel and met several times to review the applications and make funding decisions. The overall aim of the grants process was to identify and fund projects that would best meet young people s needs to improve their future prospects in terms of Money, Jobs & Opportunities. 3

5 METHODOLOGY: Previous experience of running young people s grant schemes provided a solid framework in which to design the process for this new grant scheme. Many of the previous elements of the grant process were replicated and some updated to make it easier for young people to apply. Key Stakeholders: A number of key stakeholders were involved along the grant process. These were made up of both adults and young people such as: Local young people applying for funding Young people from KYC who made up the grants panel Young people s organisations from both the Voluntary & Statutory sector IYCE Team KYC as a whole Kirklees Schools Elected members 4

6 Grant Process: The design and implementation of the grant scheme involved several stages as outlined below: OCT 2012 DEVELOPMENT & PROMOTION Youth Councillors helped develop the application pack and then information about grant scheme released and interest invited. NOV 2012 APPLICATION PROCESS KYC Grant Scheme launched. Application packs sent out and support to develop project ideas offered to groups. JAN 2013 Application process closed APR 2013 ONWARDS FOLLOW UP Funding released to groups. Groups visited and supporting evidence gathered. Promotion: MAR APR 2013 FUNDING PROJECTS Successful groups informed of amount awarded. Contract forms sent out to be signed and returned. FEB 2013 DECISION MAKING PROCESS Volunteers from KYC trained up to become the Grant Panel who then met to go through applications and make funding decisions. Reflecting on previous experience of running a grants scheme, it was important to promote the scheme not only internally to council services and schools but also externally to third sector organisations; who had been under represented in previous grant schemes. It was also particularly important to receive representation from a diverse group of young people in terms of demographics, ethnicity, disability etc. With this in mind, a wide range of established groups/ organisations who work with young people were targeted Kirklees wide via Voluntary Sector networks such as VAK (Voluntary Action Kirklees), school council networks, internal IYSS area teams etc. Notices and application packs were sent out electronically to known groups and also upon request to young people and adults supporting young people. 5

7 Young people were also targeted directly through social networking mechanisms such as Facebook and Twitter. Application Process: The application pack was aimed at young people aged between years. It comprised of two easy to read documents: an Application Form (Appendix 1) and Criteria Booklet (Appendix 2). These worked together to enable the young applicants to simply and independently complete the form filling process and gave clear and concise tips on how each section should be completed. The criteria booklet provided applicants with a breakdown of all the criteria which needed to be met in order to submit a correctly completed application. Both documents were available in printed and PDF formats. For the first time, young people could also access an electronic version and submit their applications online through the Kirklees Council and KYC websites. The applications had to be completed by the young people and returned before the closing date. Each application had to be supported by an adult with access to an organisational bank account. Decision Making Process: A small group of young people from KYC volunteered to take part in the grant scheme by becoming the Young People s Grant Panel. Their role was to methodically go through the applications received from local young people. Applications received were judged against a set list of criteria (Appendix 2) by the grants panel. The panel met several times to review the applications and were responsible for making the decisions about what projects would be funded and how much funds each would be awarded. A decision was made at the beginning of the process to award funds to as many projects as possible. This meant that the grants panel had to go through each of the applications checking all of the quotes given for equipment, suggesting cheaper alternatives and looking for creative ways in which money could be saved. 6

8 Due to the number of applications received, rather than rejecting applications for initially not meeting one or two of the criteria, it was decided to offer applicants the opportunity to revise their project idea. They were given suggestions on how their projects could be changed or improved to meet the necessary criteria required for funding. Funding Projects: Following the decision making process, each of the successful projects were contacted and informed of the amount they were awarded. Before funds could be released, each had to sign and return a Contract Agreement Form. Follow Up: Following the release of the funding, each of the main stakeholders were asked to comment on their overall experience of the grant process. Also upon completion, projects were asked to evidence the work that they had carried out by supplying the grant panel with a photo diary, scrap book or report about the project funded as a form of evidence. It was recognised that the grant scheme had the potential to create numerous projects which had strong positive human interest stories and hence provide several opportunities to link with the local press, positively highlighting the grant scheme and the work of young people in Kirklees. This would involve visiting several of the projects to follow up their work and meet some of the young people involved. 7

9 PROJECTS FUNDED: A total of 8 projects were funded by the grant scheme. All varied greatly in their approach to promoting young people s employment and financial literacy skills. They ranged from Third sector, school based (non-curriculum time) and IYSS supported projects and were judged by the grants panel as meeting all of the necessary funding criteria. Below is a brief overview of the 8 projects funded: BEAUTY PROJECT (Paddock Youth Centre) Project Description: A group of young women who attend a local youth group and currently studying Beauty at college propose to design and deliver beauty sessions to other young people who attend the club. The aim is to help promote confidence and self esteem in other young women whilst passing on their knowledge and developing a sustainable business model. No. of young people involved in the planning and delivery of the project idea: 4 No. of young people benefiting through the delivery of the project: 21 plus Amount of applied for: Amount awarded: THE CHANGE (Moor End Academy) Project Description: Key stage 4 student leaders from Moor End Academy aimed to bring a positive change to exam revision and GCSE attainment at the school for current and future students through the creation of a school specific CD Revision guide. This guide designed by and for students in the school, would evolve as requirements change and enable students to access free of charge revision resources for their exams. No. of young people involved in the planning and delivery of the project idea: 8 No. of young people benefiting through the delivery of the project: 302 in the first year Amount of applied for: Amount awarded:

10 FOOTBALL TOURNAMENT (Kumon Y all) Project Description: A group of 20 young people from Savile Town in Dewsbury applied for funding to help organise a football tournament to unite people from different communities and social groups and raise money for local charities. Through organising such an event, the young people involved would develop many new skills such as project management, time management, organisational and planning skills as well as boosting their confidence. No. of young people involved in the planning and delivery of the project idea: 20 No. of young people benefiting through the delivery of the project: 100 plus Amount of applied for: Amount awarded: HUDDERSFIELD JUNIOR APPRENTICES (Action for Blind People) Project Description: A group of four visually impaired/blind young people applied for money to fund a week of work experience at the charity Action for Blind People in Leeds. They would learn important skills associated with working for a charity and use those skills developed to plan and deliver their own event for other local visually impaired young people. No. of young people involved in the planning and delivery of the project idea: 4 (plus 2 supporting adults) No. of young people benefiting through the delivery of the project: 25 Amount of applied for: Amount awarded: PEAKS CHALLENGE (Spen Valley Sports College) Project Description: Twelve students from Spen Valley Sports College aim to create a programme to develop communication, teamwork and fitness skills though embarking on a range of outdoor and environmental activities to complement award schemes such as Duke of Edinburgh. No. of young people involved in the planning and delivery of the project idea: 12 No. of young people benefiting through the delivery of the project: 12 in first year Amount of applied for: Amount awarded:

11 CONFIDENCE 4 U (IYSS) Project Description: The aim was to run a confidence building programme for a group of girls who attend Skelmanthorpe Youth Club to help them develop their communication, confidence and assertiveness skills. The group hope that the new skills acquired will help them in large groups situations and when applying for college and/or jobs. No. of young people involved in the planning and delivery of the project idea: 3 No. of young people benefiting through the delivery of the project: 25 Amount of applied for: Amount awarded: WORLDIES (IYSS) Project Description: A group of seven young people in the Holme Valley area applied for funding to run a cooking project to help them learn about different foods and cultures from around the world. They aimed to learn about healthy nutrition, health & safety, budgeting & money skills and work towards a certificate in food hygiene. The project would cumulate in a fun family evening centred around foods from around the world that the group planned to research, prepare and will serve themselves. No. of young people involved in the planning and delivery of the project idea: 7 No. of young people benefiting through the delivery of the project: 35 plus Amount of applied for: Amount awarded: THE GREEN FINGERS CREW (Sprout) Project Description: Sprout - a gardening club for families with children who are disabled meet up to do activities and provide support to one another. The group applied for funding to enable them to plan, organise and carry out activities that they would be in charge of and to invite local business people in to help them with skills they need to self manage and develop their group such as photography, advertising and website building. No. of young people involved in the planning and delivery of the project idea: 7 No. of young people benefiting through the delivery of the project: Amount of applied for: Amount awarded:

12 PROJECT MONITORING: Useful monitoring information: During and after the application process, various data was gathered to provide useful tracking information and also to determine the cost value of the grants project as a whole. Below is a breakdown of the key information gathered: GRANT BUDGET: Total Grant Budget: Total amount of funding requested by groups: Total amount Awarded*: PROJECT BREAKDOWN: = No. of projects that applied for funding = No. of projects awarded funding Third Sector supported Projects (3) Non curriculum school based projects (2) Youth Service supported Projects (3) (0 = No. of projects not funded by grant scheme) 11

13 YOUNG PEOPLE INVOLVED/BENEFITTING: Total amount of young people involved in the planning & delivery of projects: 86 Total amount of young people benefiting through the delivery of projects Kirklees wide: 560 plus (Cost of grant scheme per head = 5.54) DEMOGRAPHICS: The grant scheme was open to young people Kirklees wide with the projects funded benefiting young people from the following areas: Huddersfield South 323+ young people Spen Valley 12 young people Dewsbury Young people The Valleys young people Kirklees Wide 25 + young people 12

14 KEY EMERGING MESSAGES The diversity of the groups and creativity of the projects funded suggests that acquiring skills around money, jobs and opportunities is at the forefront for a wide range of young people who also have dynamic ideas on how their needs in this area can be met through the delivery of specific projects. It demonstrated that young people with varying backgrounds and experiences have a desire to work towards their future career and economic goals. Such a funding scheme also demonstrates how large numbers of young people can benefit from relatively small budgets and develop targeted skills. Reflection from the Young People s Grant Panel: The panel described their experience of being involved in the grant process as: Being involved in the KYC grant scheme was a valuable experience for me and it was nice to hear that young people have great ambition to achieve ways of developing their skills. It was really nice to be involved in providing support for young people to develop by offering the grant scheme. Afsha, Grant Panel member One of the ambitions of the young people s grant panel was to highlight the need young people had to gain skills and knowledge in the area of Jobs, Opportunities & Money. They believe that the projects funded demonstrated young people s ability to successfully come up with and deliver dynamic ways of addressing those needs. The panel also recognised the need to evidence that the grants was a value for money cost effective way of meeting the needs of local young people, and in doing so successfully secure further rounds of funding: 13

15 In the future it would be great if KYC could have a grant scheme again which runs continuously throughout the year, it may be better to split an annual amount of funding we have to allocate over quarters so that funding can be provided at different stages throughout the year. Afsha, Grant Panel member The young people s panel recognised that with relatively little money, young people and organisations/ adults in Kirklees who work with them, could effectively work together to help meet national agendas such as Positive For Youth 2. This supports the governments numerous areas of commitment to young people around money, jobs & opportunities as well as ensuring that people work together so that young people have a voice and are able to decisions: With quite a small amount of money we were able to fund 8 projects which would benefit hundreds of young people in Kirklees. Matthew, Grant Panel member Excited by the quality of the ideas generated by the young people applying for funding, one of the suggestions from the grants panel was to work with the groups to produce information which could be shared with other groups who might like to duplicate or run similar projects in their area. The idea was to highlight best practice and encourage young people s autonomy by sharing some of the cost effective ways they could take responsibility for meeting their own needs: It s not about reinventing the wheel. Young people can share good ideas with each other. Tim, Grant Panel member 2 Positive For Youth Executive Summary (February 2012) 14

16 Feedback from Young People & Adults: Adults involved in supporting young people applying for funding described the grants as: A great opportunity for young people to get funding for their own projects that not only equip them with life skills but also means that they have something positive to do. Diane, Project Worker Another adult commented: The young people we work with are really despondent about their future career prospects. Schemes like this just help to give them a little bit of hope. Farook, Project Worker All of the adults supporting the young people were part of already existing organisations that currently work with young people. These included schools, youth clubs and voluntary sector organisations. Out of the three organisations from the voluntary sector, two of these were organisations which worked closely with young people with a disability and their families. They felt that the priority of the grant scheme was of great importance as many due to their disabilities were at a disadvantage when seeking work experience. They stated that the grant enabled them to create and access an experience which would not have otherwise been available to them: Funding cuts have prevented many young people from completing any work experience at school. Considering the lack of employment for young people, it is even tougher for those with a visual impairment to find a suitable job making this an opportunity not to be missed. Peter, young person with a visual impairment 15

17 Some of the projects used the opportunity to build upon and gain new transferable skills to help them in their progression to the world of work: We want to increase our confidence and assertiveness so that we have more confidence when meeting new people. This will help us when applying for college or with work interviews. Nicole, young person Our project will teach us different life skills such as health & safety, budgeting our money and keeping it controlled and being aware of how much money we have to spend and what on. We will gain useful certificates and learn about nutrition will also help us to improve our health. These are all skills that will help us greatly in the future Danielle, young person This would give us the opportunity to do real work, making and planning real things, not pretend things like in class at school. We want to do advertising and computers for a job when we leave school and we want to find out what it is really like when you are in charge. We also will have to be careful with money, this will be a good skill for when we get wages. It will help us chose our options for college. Jill, young person 16

18 Young people described and array of experiences, skills and attributes they hoped to gain from projects funded by the grant scheme: Planning Project Management Event Management Skills Leadership Fundraising Skills Dealing with clients Budgeting Business Skills Study Skills Community Awareness Advertising Photography Developing Ideas Time Management Organisational Skills Confidence Self-esteem Independence Financial Awareness Making Decisions Work Experience Communication Skills Teamwork Skills Self Awareness Social Skills Qualifications & Certificates Working with Professionals Marketing Skills Reflections on the Application Process: Groups requested very little support with completing the application form. All of the applications received were correctly completed with all of the information needed to meet the criteria submitted. This suggests that the supporting information provided as part of the application pack was clear enough for groups to understand and follow: A very straight forward and simple application process which was easy to guide the young people through. It helped them to really think about and focus on what they were trying to achieve. James, Project Worker 17

19 Positive PR Opportunities: The nature of the grant scheme means that many projects can be funded creating outcomes for young people which can be varied and far reaching. This holds potential in terms of PR opportunities as, over a period of time, it can create several good news stories which have a strong human interest. Not only is the grant scheme a cost effective way of funding meaningful projects for young people, it can be developed as a tool to raise the profile of issues which affect young people in Kirklees. With correct planning and very little funding, the stories generated through the grant scheme can be drip fed to the local media to highlight young people issues and generate positive publicity for young people in Kirklees and the services/organisations that work with them. 18

20 KEY RECOMMENDATIONS: This report has highlighted the grant schemes success in identifying and funding project ideas from groups of young people( aged between 13 to 19 years who live in Kirklees) to improve their skills and experience relevant to their future employment or financial well-being. It is hoped that the success of this round of grants will provide testimonial to secure future funding for grants for young people in Kirklees. The grant panel worked closely on evaluating the process and were able to inform the following areas of consideration for any future grant schemes: Members of KYC have suggested that the success of this grant scheme demonstrates the feasibility, need and cost effectiveness of running future grant schemes for young people in Kirklees. On an ongoing basis this could include securing a budget sufficient for 2-3 funding rounds per year. In line with local priorities, the youth councillors suggested that each round could reflect local priorities for young people identified in the Kirklees CYPP. They suggested that more money be made available this financial year to fund young people s projects around Emotional Health & Well-being; another of the main priorities identified in the Kirklees CYPP. The grant panel also recognised the positive impact a young people led grant approach could have in terms of promoting their health and well-being and enabling young people and the council to work together to achieve not just local but also national strategic priorities such as those outlined in Positive For Youth. Through following up the work of the projects funded, the youth council recognise that there is potential to encourage other groups of local young people to become more accountable for their own well-being. They suggest using previously funded projects as models of good practice and developing easy to follow plans for other young people who may want to replicate ideas in their own communities. Funding such approaches could be used as an affordable way to address gaps in provision for young people and enable them to specifically meet their own needs. This approach could help young people to develop and share skills and help to identify gaps to inform the future provision of services. Despite the scheme being promoted throughout Kirklees, no applications were received from groups of young people directly from Batley or Denby Dale/ 19

21 Kirkburton localities. Whilst the reason for this is unclear, should any future funding be secured, attention should be paid to encouraging young people from these areas to apply. Working closely with the Council s Communications and Marketing team to create a PR Strategy will help to promote the positive benefits the grant scheme has had for local young people and help the Council capitalise on the positive PR this generates. If you would like further information or wish to comment or give feedback on this report, please contact: Susan Adams Voice & Influence Team susan.adams@kirklees.gov.uk 20

22 APPENDICES Appendix 1: Appendix 2: KYC Grants Application Form Criteria Booklet 21