Youth Social Action Fund

BBC Children in Need, in partnership with the #iwill Fund and The Hunter Foundation, are delivering a £3 million fund to support organisations to embed youth social action across the UK. This fund will help to build children and young people’s confidence and skills, empowering them to take an active and leading role in developing solutions to issues which affect their lives and their communities.

The #iwill Fund is a £54 million joint investment between The National Lottery Community Fund and The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS).

This funding will support organisations to bring social action and youth empowerment opportunities to children and young people, to help prevent or overcome the effects of the disadvantages they face. We especially want to reach:

organisations who focus on addressing issues of disadvantage affecting children and young people
children and young people who have some experience of social action and want to develop their skills and experience to do more.
children and young people who have no experience of social action work at all but want to find out what it is all about.

We will be launching two programmes about sharing power with children and young people; our Youth Social Action Fund and our We Move Youth Social Action Fund. The We Move Youth Social Action Fund is aimed specifically at Black led organisations and organisations that work with Black children and young people. You can find out more about the fund here.

The Youth Social Action Fund is for children and young people aged 18 and under. We know that many youth social action projects are working with older age ranges in this bracket. We especially welcome applications from organisations working with or planning to work with children (e.g. 15 and under).

Young people have been working with us since the beginning of designing this fund. It is important to us that we are designing a programme that embodies the values of youth social action. We will continue to involve them throughout the assessment and decision-making process. We want to ensure that their voices are heard and the issues that matter most to them are addressed.

What is social action?

Youth social action describes the activities that children and young people do to make a positive difference and drive change in their communities and for the world around them. Through youth social action children and young people use their voice and their lived experience, if they wish, to tackle subjects that matter to them.

Through social action, we hope children and young people will be able to develop their own solutions to issues they and their local communities face. We aim to fund work which is:

Led by children and young people, focusing on the social change they want to see.
Genuinely developmental and reciprocal for children and young people. Providing them with life enhancing experience and new skills and confidence.
Prioritising the wellbeing of children and young people at all times.
Inclusive of all age ranges
Valuing lived experience
Allowing time and space for project ideas to grow, through an initial development phase. This period of time at the start of each grant will build the capacity of the children and young people to take part in youth social action. It may also enable the organisations to build their own capacity.

About the Fund

This fund is for not-for-profit organisations, who focus on addressing issues of disadvantage affecting children and young people’s lives, and are motivated to empower them to take part in youth social action.

How much can I apply for?

Up to £15k for unregistered organisations and up to £50k for registered bodies (please read the detail below carefully)
If you are not registered with an appropriate regulatory body, you can apply for up to £10k per year, or £15k over the 18 months. An appropriate body includes the Charity Commission for England and Wales, Charity Commission for Northern Ireland and OSCR -The Office of the Scottish Charity. If you are a Company limited by Guarantee or a Community Interest Company, you must have registered with Companies House.
If you are registered you can apply for up to £50k over the 18 months

We expect there to be a mix in the size of grants awarded.

Who can apply

For the Youth Social Action Fund we accept applications from:

Charitable incorporated organisations and Scottish charitable incorporated organisations;
Community interest companies (CIC) limited by guarantee;
Companies limited by guarantee with a clause in their governing document preventing distribution of profit (including social enterprises);
Housing associations;
Industrial and provident community benefit societies;
Registered charities;
Religious institutions;
Special schools – These are provisions for children with learning difficulties or disabilities which cannot be met within a mainstream setting
Unregistered Organisations. If you not registered with an appropriate regulatory body you are an unregistered organisation. An appropriate body includes the Charity Commission for England and Wales, Charity Commission for Northern Ireland and OSCR -The Office of the Scottish Charity Register. If you are a Company limited by Guarantee or a Community Interest Company, you must have registered with Companies House

What don't we fund?

Whilst this fund is designed to be as flexible as possible, we are unable to consider applications for the following:

Work which statutory bodies (such as schools or local authorities) have a duty to fund.
To educational institutions including schools, universities, pupil referral units. The only exception is special schools.
To local government, prisons or NHS bodies.
For capital or building projects. This includes construction, renovation or conversion of new buildings, existing premises, playgrounds, sports pitches etc. as part of your project. We may fund children and young people to fundraise, campaign and raise costs to improve facilities. You cannot use your grant to pay for capital improvements. We will not fund any building work or improvements to statutory facilities.
For projects which promote religion. (However we can still fund religious organisations)
To fund trips or projects abroad.
For medical treatment or research.
For pregnancy testing or advice, information or counselling on pregnancy choices.
For bursaries, sponsored places, fees or equivalent.
For holidays where there is little or no project involvement.
For political activity or, to party political organisations or for direct lobbying.
To individuals.
To be passed on to other organisations.
For general appeals or endowment funds. Children and young people may undertake fundraising activity as part of this programme. Your BBC Children in Need grant is for delivering project activities only. It cannot be used as a contribution towards fundraising income.
To help with budget shortfalls, debt repayments or contributions to reserves.
Staff redundancy or re-deployment costs
Investments
Pension liabilities and/or contributions to a large number of staff’s pension
Feasibility studies or scoping work
Work which directly addresses the effects of child sexual exploitation or is focused on addressing this issue
Non-Fixed equipment totalling over £20,000 (e.g. play/sensory equipment)
To projects where the grant expenditure is due to start before the grant award date (retrospective funding).
To projects unable to complete their grant by March 2024.
For unspecified expenditure.
To organisations that have been told they are ineligible for our funding (check your previous decision letter)
Work delivered outside the UK
Work with young people over the age of 18 years.
Vehicles including minibuses.
Fixed equipment (e.g. boilers, lighting etc.)
Costs for which you have already received funding for (duplication)

How long are the grants for?

We will fund grants of any length up to 18 months
We expect there to be an initial development phase of your work, to allow you to design and prepare according to the choices of the children and young people you are working with.

What will the process be like?

We will award grants in August. Delivery must be completed by the middle of March 2024.
We expect all successful organisations to take part in a self-directed development stage for up to 6 months at the beginning of their grant period. We know it takes time to plan and develop work in detail, and to build the capacity of children and young people to take part in youth social action. The content and length will be bespoke to the project and organisation. In your application, you can ask for up to 10% of your budget for development support. We will also provide some capacity building support for your organisation and children and young people during this stage. We will discuss this more in the information session. We expect that the development stage will be used to:
- Develop project plans, recruit and refine your budget
- Build the capacity of the children and young people to take the lead in shaping the project
- Build the capacity of the organisation to run a successful project.

After the funded development phase, organisations will have until mid-March 2024 to deliver and evaluate their social action projects.

At the end of the bespoke development phase, successful organisations will meet with their grants officer to finalise their project plan and expenditure.

How do I apply or find out more?

Applications to the Youth Social Action Fund are now closed.

Accessibility

We want everyone to be able to apply for our funding. We’re committed to being as accessible as possible, wherever we can. If you need support, please contact us on 0345 609 0015 or by emailing [email protected].

For the information sessions, this support might include:

Making transcripts available after the information session
Enabling closed captioning
A conversation rather than attending an information session

For the application process, this support might include

Requesting guidance in other formats
Using a translator

You know what you need best, so please talk to us and we will do what we can to support you.

Privacy Statement

The information you provide in respect of this may be special category data under data protection laws. We will use it only to help ensure that our information session and grant programme is accessible to you and it will be kept in accordance with our Special Category and Criminal Convictions Data Policy (a copy of which is available on request). The legal basis on which BBC Children in Need processes your special category data is your explicit consent which you may withdraw at any time by contacting [email protected]. You will be asked to give your consent when you contact us. We will delete the information once the application deadline has passed. For full privacy information please see https://www.bbcchildreninneed.co.uk/grants/bbc-children-in-need-privacy-notice/

Should I attend an information session?

To decide if you should attend an information session and for information about the children and young people we aim to reach and the types of organisations that will be eligible for this fund, click on the headings below.

Children & Young People

This fund is for organisations that work with children and young people aged 0-18 years and affected by:

Area deprivation e. children and young people living in highly disadvantaged areas, including high local deprivation, low safety and isolated communities
Behaviour or education engagement issues e. children and young people facing barriers to engagement in education and employment or have been involved in offending
Disabilitye. disabled children (including learning disabled) and children experiencing learning difficulties
Family related challenges e. children and young people facing challenges relating to their family including domestic violence, young carers, experience of care and bereavement
Household poverty and housing difficulties e. children and young people living in a household experiencing poverty or face housing difficulties such as homelessness or unsuitable housing
Marginalised identities or nationalities e. children and young people who belong to identities or nationalities marginalised in UK society
Mental health and emotional wellbeing e. children and young people experiencing issues with their mental health or emotional wellbeing
Personal harm e. children and young people who have experienced personal harm by other people or are at risk of experiencing harm
Physical health e. children and young people experiencing health issues

The work we fund makes differences in children and young people’s lives that help prevent or overcome the effects of the disadvantages they face. Funded organisations will achieve these differences by working directly with children and young people to explore and deliver their social action ideas.

The We Move Fund: Youth Social Action is aimed specifically at Black led organisations and organisations that work with Black children and young people. You can find out more about the fund here.

Organisations

We do not expect you to have experience in youth-led social action projects. We do want organisations to tell us why they are best placed to deliver their work. This means you must be able to tell us about:

Your well-established links with children and young people
Your experience in child participation/ sharing power with children and young people
How you work alongside other organisations in their local community
How and why you want to deliver youth-led social action projects

Demonstrate that you can support the children and young people to deliver youth-led projects (e.g. staff, admin etc). Please include these costs in your budget.

Minimum Standards for Grantmaking

BBC Children in Need uses Minimum Standards for Grantmaking to help us understand the strengths of an applicant’s finances, governance, and Safeguarding. You can find out more about the minimum standards and how they are being used in the Youth Social Action Fund here.

What if I already have a BBC Children in Need grant?

We want to fund organisations which are best placed to make a difference to the lives of disadvantaged children and young people. As always there is great demand for our funding, and we want to make sure our funding reaches the whole of the UK. We will accept applications from new applicants and from organisations which already have a BBC Children in Need grant.

We will only accept applications from organisations who:

Want to deliver a youth social action project
Have the capacity and a group of children or young people they are working with
Are ready to engage in our learning community for this fund

How to Apply? - Information Sessions

Applications to the Youth Social Action Fund are now closed.

Application forms will be sent out after the information sessions to those who have attended or watched a recorded version.

The deadline for submitting application forms is Monday 23^rd May at 11.59am.

Decisions will be communicated to applicants by the end of August 2022.

We are keen to ensure that organisations who would like to know more about youth social action, are able to consider applying to this Fund. As a result, we are also delivering an optional additional workshop focusing on Youth Social Action and how to engage children and young people more meaningfully in your work.

Youth Social Action workshops will take place on the following dates:

26 April, 4.30pm (Full)
28 April, 4.30pm (Full)
7th May, 10:30am (Full)

The Youth Social Action workshops are now at full capacity.

About our Partners

The National Lottery Community Fund and the Department of Culture, Media & Sport are each investing £20 million seed funding to create the #iwill Fund. BBC Children in Need is acting as a match funder and awarding grants on behalf of the #iwill Fund. The #iwill Fund brings together a group of organisations who all contribute funding to embed meaningful social action into the lives of young people.
The Hunter Foundation (THF) is a proactive venture philanthropy that seeks to invest in determining model solutions, in partnership with others, to troubling systemic issues relating to poverty reduction and educational enablement. However it is our strong belief that those geographical factors can be overcome to afford every child an equal opportunity to succeed regardless of location; Kigali, Rwanda or Kilmarnock, Scotland.

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