Young Gamechangers Fund

Overview

The £4.5m Young Gamechangers Fund aims to change the way youth-led funding is delivered. This innovative fund shifts the power to young people between the ages of 10-25 years of age to support their vision to build communities of the future.

The Young Gamechangers Fund is committed to prioritising support for young activists who are creating communities that are prosperous, safe, diverse, equitable and inclusive, healthy, and sustainable. In particular, we wanted to support groups and communities that prioritise youth activism and shared power.

In addition to funding, successful applicants also get access to peer support networks, training and mentoring to help their vision come to life – putting young people at the heart of change.

Developed by young people, the Young Gamechangers Fund is funded by the Co-op Foundation, in partnership with Co-op and the #iwill Fund; and delivered by the Global Fund for Children and Restless Development, alongside the Co-op Foundation.

Funding and support

YGF awards grants of up to £20k directly to young people aged 10-25 and you’ll get access to peer networks and support to take your initiative to the next level!

• One-Year grants of £1,000 - £20,000
• Includes Support Package from Global Fund for Children and Restless Development to enable young people to develop skills and connections to bring their ideas to life.
  • A dedicated programme officer 4 online sessions of grant management support
  • At least 1 in person visit to your project and events
  • 5 further optional support sessions during the year (when you need them)
  • Support with training for you and your project
  • Help with finding opportunities to build connections and relationships with other activists and campaigners

There are three types of funding available: 

• Funding for individuals
• Funding for groups or organisations with an annual income of less than £100,000 - unrestricted/flexible funding and project funding (NI organisations applicable)
• Project funding for groups and organisations - England Only

One-year grants of up to £20,000 are available for both individuals and groups along with one year of support from their delivery partners, Global Fund for Children and Restless Development.

Young people have built this Fund from the ground up, co-designing branding and developing every aspect of the fund from the application process through to grant decisions. Find out more about our youth steering group.

Eligibility Criteria

They will prioritise support for young activists who are committed to creating communities that are prosperous, safe, diverse, equitable and inclusive, healthy, and sustainable. In particular we’re seeking to support groups and communities that prioritise youth activism and shared power.

All applications must meet the following core criteria:

• Applicants must be 10-25 and living in the UK
• You can be part of a group or organisation,or an individual applicant
• Your project or activities should be led by young people - this means it’s your idea and any adults should be supporting you to do what you want to do
• You can ask for £1,000 - £20,000 - make sure you ask for what you and your group need. If you only need £3,000, ask for that, it won’t affect how their panel of young people will assess your idea if you ask for less money

A young person doesn't need experience of leading projects or have done anything like this before - let your passion and enthusiasm come through in your application. They will support your idea and passion, even if it's just you!

However, they are looking for young people who are creating positive social change in their communities, through:

• Activism and awareness raising
• Campaigning
• Disrupting and challenging norms
• Building co-operation

To be funded by Young Gamechangers Fund the activities or project outlined in your application must focus on at least one of these areas.

In Grant Round 2, the Youth Steering Group have also identified two focus areas that they hope to see represented in applications, but are not essential requirements for receiving the grant. The Youth Steering Group are keen to receive applications from young people seeking to:

• Build community cohesion and bring people together
• Design and test new and innovative approaches to established challenges

If your planned social action project and programme activities will address one or both of these focus areas, please make sure to highlight this in your application.

Fund priorities

The Youth Steering Group recognise that not all young people have the same access to opportunities like this, and are committed to working toward fairer access for all young people.

For Grant Round 2 the Youth Steering Group have identified several groups who they feel are underrepresented, and will prioritise applications from young people who have experience of:

• The criminal justice system
• Barriers to accessing education
• Living in rural/isolated communities
• Living in coastal towns and communities
• Seeking asylum, being a refugee
• Social and financial barriers to accessing opportunities

Note: This is about what a young person has experienced in their life. The social action focus of their application, and the issues they want to address do not have to be one of these.

For more information on supporting young people, youth leadership and information about fiscal sponsors , please see Frequently Asked Questions and Glossary of Terms

What do they mean by youth-led?

By youth-led, they mean projects or actions that are led by an individual young person aged 10 - 25 OR where the organisation or group involves children and young people aged 10 - 25 in leadership and decision-making of the project you are seeking funding for. Where young gamechangers are supported by or hosted by an adult-led organisation or group, your application must show how your project, activity or activism is driven by young people within the organisation or group.