The Future of Youth and Community Adventure Play (2025-2030)

Actions

The Council has been reviewing the youth and community adventure play services we offer, alongside the wider offer available through schools, libraries, parks, and leisure facilities to shape the future of services locally. 

The vision is to deliver excellent services and provide even more opportunities that result in positive outcomes for children and young people. We want to deliver activities, projects, and services that meet emerging needs locally. 

We will achieve the vision by establishing:

  1. A Youth Empowerment Grant Programme consisting of three grants for core, projects and dedicated SEND funding, totalling £857,500 per year. This programme will be coordinated and administered by the Council’s strategic partner for youth services, Young K&C

  2. A Delivery Programme led by the Council to work with partners and other departments including Schools, Leisure & Parks, Libraries, Early Help, Public Health and Economic Development to bring together an offer for young people. The Programme will also work towards the priorities that were identified in the review, these being ‘Inclusivity’, ‘Learning and Employment’, ‘Physical and Emotional Wellbeing and Mental Health’, ‘Safe and Secure Spaces’ and ‘Celebrating and Strengthening the Sector’.

These arrangements will replace the Council’s current commissioning approach.

What will stay the same?

  • Budgets will not see a reduction to front line delivery and an inflationary uplift of 6 per cent has been included and will be reviewed annually

  • Successful organisations will be grant funded by the Council and grant agreements will be between the provider and the Council

  • The Council’s contract managers will continue to work with successful providers to undertake visits and report on the success of each programme

  • The Council will be accountable for award decisions and the Executive Director of Children’s Services will approve all grants being awarded

  • Organisations will be invited to express an interest in leasing Council owned buildings at a peppercorn rent 

  • Promotion of the youth offer via Our City and supporting the sector in strengthening safeguarding

  • The Council will retain statutory responsibilities for safeguarding and the escalation and management of serious incidents

What will be different?

  • A minimum of £750,000 additional match funding will be generated for the sector by Young K&C over five years to make more funding opportunities available

  • There will be a mix of grant opportunities that offer core funding as well as funding for activities and projects

  • Arrangements will move away from contracts to grants

  • Rather than specifying services, we will invite proposals that show how they meet the priorities that were identified in the review

  • Infrastructure organisations that typically represent the sector and representative groups of young people will be invited to be part of the grants panel to enable more sector involvement in decision making 

  • More proportionate monitoring and reporting arrangements

  • More partnership working with schools, libraries, leisure services and parks to enhance the offer to young people

How do I find out more?

To find out more about our new youth services model, you can read the full paper from the July Leadership Team meeting. If you have any further questions, you can contact [email protected]

Page last reviewed: 30/07/2024

Skip back to top of page