Opportunity Young people in Hull from Youth Opportunity and Capital Funds – 02/03/2009

Young people in Hull have the opportunity to bid for money to develop their ideas for youth projects in the city. They have until Monday 23rd March to enter their proposals to win their slice of the £400,000 available from the Youth Opportunity and Capital Funds.

Last year 203 projects benefited from the scheme, which provided funding for arts and music projects, sporting activities, IT equipment and awareness campaigns. Some projects established new meeting places or gained funding to go towards a building extension.

One example includes a year nine pupil from Pickering High School Sports College’s Hearing Impaired Unit, who won £2700 to purchase archery equipment and put money towards training for deaf and hearing impaired young people. Daniel Pallister’s success led to schools from around the region taking part in an archery competition.

Youth Opportunity funds have also been used to install a new digital recording studio at the Kingston Youth Centre and arrange music industry days for young people, as well as funding groups that hold a variety of activities and workshops including graffiti art, film and animation making techniques, digital photography, drama and performance.

Councillor Christine Randall, lead member for children and young people’s services, said:

“The Youth Opportunity Fund provides a fantastic opportunity for young people in the city to develop community projects in their local area. We know that there are many determined and ambitious young people out there who can benefit from these funds and help develop activities to engage with other young people.”

The Youth Opportunity Fund (YOF) provides grants of up to £7500 for young people age 13 to 19, and decisions about how to award the money are made by young people from around the city in April.

19 year old Hannah is involved in the panel that selects successful entries. She said:

“YOF helps young people make their ideas become a reality in their community and provides positive opportunities for them and their friends. It also helps lots of other young people take part in opportunities they would not normally get. I’ve made decisions on the bids with over 60 other young people and helped make these ideas a reality. Hopefully I will be able to help more new young people make decisions in April.”

An application pack can be found on the council websites – www.hullcc.gov.uk , www.cluedupinhull.com or from your local youth centre, youth project or by emailing youthdevelopmentservice@hullcc.gov.uk.