Youth Services to get £4.7m boost led by partners and providers

Published: Wednesday 31 July 2024

 
A £4.7m pot of funding has been announced by the Council to provide improved services to the Kensington and Chelsea’s young residents over the next five years, with potential providers bidding for funds later this year. 


This new way of allocating funding to providers is borne out of our recent Youth Review, in which the Council listened to over 368 young people, 237 adults and professionals, and held 49 engagement events.


A minimum of £750,000 additional match funding will be generated for the sector across the five years by Young K&C, the Council’s strategic children and youth partner. Young K&C will play a vital role in promoting and allocating the funds.  


Cllr Catherine Faulks, Lead Member for Family and Children’s Services, said: “At a time when Councils across the UK are cutting back on their youth funding, we are thinking innovatively and increasing our youth services funding over the next five years. With match funding from partners, a new bidding process for grants and a diverse panel to award funding to providers, this new model will make sure our offer is as tailored as it can be for young people in Kensington and Chelsea.”


Nicola Butler, CEO of Young K&C, said: “We're delighted to be working in partnership with RBKC on this exciting investment in local youth clubs and community adventure play.  We are looking forward to working with local young people to put their ideas into practice."


Providers will bid for grant funding in September 2024, with grants being delivered from January 2025. A carefully selected panel will help decide which organisations receive funding in the three grant categories. 


For more detail on our new youth offer, visit the Council’s Family Information Service website.