Aug
2
£368 million fund to improve youth services in underserved areas opens for bids
Author: Chloe Smith, Updated: 02 August 2022 12:16
Yesterday the government announced that the £368 million Youth Investment Fund opened for bids to local authorities, to improve the health, wellbeing and career prospects and to level up opportunity for young people.
As MP for Norwich North, ensuring that our young people get the best possible start in life is one of my priorities and therefore I am pleased that ensuring young people can succeed is central to the governments levelling up agenda, as they are determined to ensure nobody is left behind.
That is why I welcome that the £368 million Youth Investment Fund has opened for bids to help to build or refurbish up to 300 youth facilities as safe spaces to socialise and help support them into employment.
The Youth Investment Fund, designed to create, improve and expand local youth facilities and services, today opens for bids from 45 local authorities and more than 600 district wards in some of the most deprived areas in England. It will provide funding to build or refurbish up to 300 youth facilities over the next 3 years, providing safe spaces in which young people can socialise and participate in a wide range of activities, including those designed to help support them into employment.
The funding forms part of the Government’s ‘National Youth Guarantee’ to ensure every young person right across England will have access to regular out of school activities, adventures away from home and opportunities to volunteer backed by a £560 million investment. These opportunities will help them develop the skills they need for life and work, improving their wellbeing and employability.
The guarantee also includes offering The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award to every state secondary school for the first time, as well as increased access to social action projects or the opportunity to meet new people, learn life and work skills like money management or public speaking skills through the National Citizen Service.
These opportunities will help local young people develop the skills they need for life and work, while improving their wellbeing and employability.
As MP for Norwich North, ensuring that our young people get the best possible start in life is one of my priorities. To find out more about what action I am taking both in Norwich and Westminster for this work, please visit: https://www.chloesmith.org.uk/myplan/children.
If constituents need to contact me on this matter, or any other issue, please do email me at chloe@chloesmith.org.uk or ring my constituency office on 01603 414756
Chloe Smith