Youth Capital Fund and Youth Opportunities Fund

Surrey young people have been given £1 million per year from September 2006 by central government via the Youth Opportunities Fund (YOF) and Youth Capital Fund (YCF).

impact will be releasing information about changes to YCF/YOF! Please continue to check the website for more information!

The grants are for young people living in Surrey, aged between 11 and 19 years or up to 25 years old if they have additional needs. The grants must allow young people to have a greater choice and influence over what happens in their neighbourhood and improve things to do and places to go in their community.

YOF and YCF are funds, designed to empower young people in having a greater choice and influence over the provision and facilities in their neighbourhood. Any Elmbridge young person or group can apply for this money.

impact act as a Grant Giving panel to allocate the money. They discuss the applications to see if they meet the criteria and have a majority vote on all applications.

To become a Grant Giver the impact members took part in a training day at High Ashurst Outdoor Activity Centre. The training included:

• discussions about what they thought was a good or bad application,
• completed a fictional application,
• role played a Grant Givers meeting including what make a good or bad discussion,
• roles of the group, for example chair and vice chair,
• outdoor challenge course which included group work and problem solving.

|Surrey County Councils website has more information on the YOF and YCF including advice for teachers and support workers.