Reopening after two years, the Million Hours Fund, provided by the Department for Culture, Media, and Sport and the National Lottery Community Fund (NLCF), is offering grants between £30,000 and £100,000 to provide support for young people in areas with higher rates of anti-social behaviour.
Incorporated voluntary or community organisations and public sector organisations who apply must deliver projects that:
- benefit young people aged 10 to 18, or up to 25 if they have special educational needs or disabilities (SEND)
- effectively engage with young people at risk of taking part in anti-social behaviour
- deliver more hours of youth work than you provide now
- involve young people in deciding how you work
- deliver youth work that is open to as wide a range of young people as possible (known as ‘open access’)
- be run by trusted adults such as qualified youth workers, youth support workers, or experienced volunteers.
Funding will aim to provide extra hours of youth work, and could be used to support learning, arts, playing sports, mentoring, and developing social skills and life skills.
Any funds allocated can be used for:
- staff salaries to deliver the work
- volunteer costs to deliver the work
- training costs
- other direct costs to deliver youth work (materials, equipment and food)
- the cost of reporting back to NLCF about the funding
- partial overheads, such as part of rent, insurance, salary for someone not directly involved in the work (senior manager and/or office admin worker).
Organisations are encouraged to apply as soon as possible. The deadline for applications is Wednesday 22nd October at 12:00 noon, but may close early depending on the number of applications received.
Click here for more information, and click here to check if your ward is eligible for funding. The eligible wards for this round are based on the youth population and levels of antisocial behaviour recorded by the police.