BBC Children in Need: Youth Social Action Fund

Overview

This funding will support organisations to bring social action and youth empowerment opportunities to children and young people, to help prevent or overcome the effects of the disadvantages they face. They especially want to reach:

organisations who focus on addressing issues of disadvantage affecting children and young people
children and young people who have some experience of social action and want to develop their skills and experience to do more.
children and young people who have no experience of social action work at all but want to find out what it is all about.

They will be launching two programmes about sharing power with children and young people; their Youth Social Action Fund and their We Move Youth Social Action Fund. The We Move Youth Social Action Fund is aimed specifically at Black led organisations and organisations that work with Black children and young people. You can find out more about the fund here.

Purpose

The Youth Social Action Fund is for children and young people aged 18 and under. They know that many youth social action projects are working with older age ranges in this bracket. They especially welcome applications from organisations working with or planning to work with children (e.g. 15 and under).

Young people have been working with us since the beginning of designing this fund. It is important to them that they are designing a programme that embodies the values of youth social action. They will continue to involve them throughout the assessment and decision-making process. They want to ensure that their voices are heard and the issues that matter most to them are addressed.

What is social action?

Youth social action describes the activities that children and young people do to make a positive difference and drive change in their communities and for the world around them. Through youth social action children and young people use their voice and their lived experience, if they wish, to tackle subjects that matter to them.

Through social action, they hope children and young people will be able to develop their own solutions to issues they and their local communities face. They aim to fund work which is:

Led by children and young people, focusing on the social change they want to see.
Genuinely developmental and reciprocal for children and young people. Providing them with life enhancing experience and new skills and confidence.
Prioritising the wellbeing of children and young people at all times.
Inclusive of all age ranges
Valuing lived experience
Allowing time and space for project ideas to grow, through an initial development phase. This period of time at the start of each grant will build the capacity of the children and young people to take part in youth social action. It may also enable the organisations to build their own capacity.

About the Fund

This fund is for not-for-profit organisations, who focus on addressing issues of disadvantage affecting children and young people’s lives, and are motivated to empower them to take part in youth social action.

How much can I apply for?

Up to £15k for unregistered organisations and up to £50k for registered bodies (please read the detail below carefully)
If you are not registered with an appropriate regulatory body, you can apply for up to £10k per year, or £15k over the 18 months. An appropriate body includes the Charity Commission for England and Wales, Charity Commission for Northern Ireland and OSCR -The Office of the Scottish Charity. If you are a Company limited by Guarantee or a Community Interest Company, you must have registered with Companies House.
If you are registered you can apply for up to £50k over the 18 months

They expect there to be a mix in the size of grants awarded.

Who can apply

For the Youth Social Action Fund they accept applications from:

Charitable incorporated organisations and Scottish charitable incorporated organisations;
Community interest companies (CIC) limited by guarantee;
Companies limited by guarantee with a clause in their governing document preventing distribution of profit (including social enterprises);
Housing associations;
Industrial and provident community benefit societies;
Registered charities;
Religious institutions;
Special schools – These are provisions for children with learning difficulties or disabilities which cannot be met within a mainstream setting
Unregistered Organisations. If you not registered with an appropriate regulatory body you are an unregistered organisation. An appropriate body includes the Charity Commission for England and Wales, Charity Commission for Northern Ireland and OSCR -The Office of the Scottish Charity Register. If you are a Company limited by Guarantee or a Community Interest Company, you must have registered with Companies House

How long are the grants for?

They will fund grants of any length up to 18 months
They expect there to be an initial development phase of your work, to allow you to design and prepare according to the choices of the children and young people you are working with.

What will the process be like?

They will award grants in August. Delivery must be completed by the middle of March 2024.
They expect all successful organisations to take part in a self-directed development stage for up to 6 months at the beginning of their grant period. They know it takes time to plan and develop work in detail, and to build the capacity of children and young people to take part in youth social action. The content and length will be bespoke to the project and organisation. In your application, you can ask for up to 10% of your budget for development support. They will also provide some capacity building support for your organisation and children and young people during this stage. They will discuss this more in the information session. They expect that the development stage will be used to:
- Develop project plans, recruit and refine your budget
- Build the capacity of the children and young people to take the lead in shaping the project
- Build the capacity of the organisation to run a successful project.

After the funded development phase, organisations will have until mid-March 2024 to deliver and evaluate their social action projects.

At the end of the bespoke development phase, successful organisations will meet with their grants officer to finalise their project plan and expenditure.

Track grant Notes