Youth Voice Grant
We value the voices of our communities here in Kensington and Chelsea, and that includes young people who live, work and study in the borough.
To understand as much as we can about the issues, concerns, wants and needs of young people, we want to enable youth clubs and settings to run sessions to help us capture these views.
Youth Voice Grants will give you, as a leader or manager of a local youth club or setting, funds to run these sessions, and the guidance needed.
If you are a leader or a manager of a local youth-facing setting, these grants will help you make the borough a better and more democratic place for young people, putting their voices at the forefront and demonstrating that we value their views.
About this grant
This new Youth Voice Fund has been co-created with our Youth Council with the aims of:
- Investing in opportunities for young people to make their voices heard across Kensington and Chelsea
- Creating a more representative network of young people to influence decision-making
- Widening participation in decisions that impact the lives of young people who live, work and study here
- Building on what already exists in our youth clubs, the voluntary and community sector (VCS) organisations and established youth voice groups locally
- Creating a lasting impact on the scale of youth voice projects delivered as a legacy of this grant
A key part of this grant will be creating a network of 10 providers who can link with each other and our Youth Council to create a partnership of local organisations who are more than the sum of our parts when it comes to championing the voice of young people here in Kensington and Chelsea.
This Council is committed in our Council Plan to capturing the voice of young people in response to the services they receive. We value in the wider network of youth voluntary organisations operating locally, and their role in embedding youth voice.
Who can apply
Local youth clubs and providers who work with Children and Young People aged 11 to 19 (up to 25 if SEND or care leavers) who live, work or study within the borough of Kensington and Chelsea can apply for Youth Voice Grants.
We want to encourage local voluntary and community organisations of all sizes to apply for this grant, provided:
- You are an incorporated organisation
- You are currently operating in Kensington and Chelsea
- Your organisation has a robust and up to date safeguarding policy
- You have signed financial accounts and an up to date bank statement which shows you are financially sustainable
What this grant funds
The Youth Voice Grant will fund up to 10 organisations who deliver local youth provision by:
- Providing £4,000 per organisation to deliver 10 youth voice sessions each over the course of 12 months
Your Budget expenditure should include the creation of a youth voice steering group covering:
- Salaries of 1 x staff worker for prep and delivery of 10 x youth voice sessions
- 1 grant monitoring and evaluation information return and 1 visit to your project by the Youth Council, Officers from Kensington and Chelsea Council and/or Young K&C
- Expenses and/or vouchers associated with recognising young people's time in the youth group
Help from the Youth Participation team including guidance sessions
We encourage organisations interested in applying to attend one of the guidance sessions the Council will run to talk you through what we are looking for from funding applications, and to answer your questions so you can submit the strongest bid possible. These will be run on:
- Launch: Tuesday 28 May
- Guidance session: Tuesday 11 June (in person) Thursday 13 June (Online)
- Guidance session: Tuesday 18 June (in person) Thursday 20 June (Online)
- Grant Close: Sunday 30 June (midnight)
To register your place email [email protected] with your details and an Eventbrite link will be shared. These guidance sessions will cover:
- how to recruit a diverse group of young people for your youth voice group
- how to create a youth voice project which is led and delivered by young people
- how to evaluate your project’s outcomes with young people
- answering your questions to enable you to complete your application and monitoring
If you are interested in applying, we strongly encourage you to read this helpful guidance on how to co-produce projects with young people locally.
For any further enquiries regarding an application you would like to submit, please email [email protected] and a member of the Youth Participation Team will help.
The deadline for applications to be submitted is 5.30pm on Sunday 30 June 2024.
What to expect after applying
Once all applications are received, a member of our Youth Participation Team and members of our Youth Fund Assessors will:
- Review all applications to assess eligibility (the young residents who assess your application may have clarifying questions, please make sure you are contactable via email and telephone to answer these promptly)
- Carry out site visits with all shortlisted applicants to ask you questions about your project, how you work with young people, and what impact your youth voice project expects to make (shortlisted applicants will need to be available for a site visit during July/August)
- Notify successful and unsuccessful applicants and set up project monitoring and grant payments for Autumn 2024
Monitoring outcomes for successful applicants
If your organisation is successful in its application, our Youth Fund Assessors or Youth Council member will:
- Visit your sessions to monitor the progression of you Steering Group
- Buddy you with members of the Youth Council so that you can learn from each other
- Be your key contact for questions regarding youth democracy in the borough
