About the Youth Opportunity and Capital Funds

There were no restrictions on what activities the Youth Opportunity Fund could support as long as they support one or more of the five outcomes from Every Child Matters:

• Being healthy.
• Staying safe.
• Enjoying and achieving.
• Making a positive contribution.
• Achieving economic well being.

Panels of young people from Oxfordshire decided how the money was spent and whose applications were successful.

Adult workers supported their role as grant givers, e.g. by encouraging the groups to consider local needs and to think about circumstances for young people beyond their immediate group.

History, policy and aims

The Youth Opportunity Fund and Youth Capital Fund came about because the Government Green Paper, Youth Matters, proposed that money should be made available for young people to decide how to spend in their area.

It was part of an overall aim to improve the amount and quality of positive activities for young people, particularly those who are disadvantaged, and to provide more places to go and things to do.

Youth Matters stated that young people should be able to benefit from:

• a range of safe and enjoyable places to go
• a wide range of sporting, cultural and recreational activities and experiences
• opportunities for volunteering

To make this possible, they proposed that money be made available for young people to decide how to spend in their area – the Youth Opportunity Fund (YOF). They also proposed the Youth Capital Fund (YCF), to help improve youth facilities, particularly in deprived neighbourhoods. As projects often contain both elements, the Youth Capital Fund and Youth Opportunity Fund can be used together.

The involvement of young people, especially disadvantaged young people, is central to this initiative. Young people should be involved at every stage:

• Making the bids
• Deciding on funding
• Producing reports

More about aims

The aim of the YOF is to involve young people, especially hard to reach young people, in identifying positive activities and things to do; and to support their role as decision makers, grant givers and project leaders.

The aim of the YCF is to provide money to be spent on facilities that young people want, and it should allow for the active involvement of young people, with particular emphasis on those who are disadvantaged, in all aspects of planning, delivery, monitoring and evaluation.

Young people should be supported as they grow into the role of decision makers, grant givers and project leaders. They should also be encouraged to consider local needs and circumstances as a part of their role in shaping provision for young people beyond their immediate group.

Partnerships and joint-funding with other statutory, voluntary, community and private partner organisations are all to be encouraged, as is collaboration with other young people from different cultural and social backgrounds.

YOF/YCF aim to:

• Give a voice and influence to young people, particularly disadvantaged young people, in relation to things to do and places to go and to convey a powerful message to young people that their needs and aspirations are important;
• Change the way local authorities and their partners provide activities and facilities for young people, especially in deprived neighbourhoods, and to increase the responsiveness of providers to what young people want;
• Improve things to do and places to go in line with what young people want in their neighbourhood;
• Provide opportunities for young people to develop their confidence, knowledge, skills and abilities and gain recognition and/or accreditation for them;
• Increase the well-being of young people by contributing to the achievement of the Every Child Matters (ECM) outcomes.
• Increase young people’s engagement with services and with the democratic process at local level.

About the Chill out Fund

Improving and extending provision for children and young people in Oxfordshire

Oxfordshire County Council set up a fund of £100,000 revenue and £100,000 capital to support work with children and young people across the county. This fund supported the aspirations of those working with children and young people in Oxfordshire to ensure all children and young people can access positive activities in their leisure-time by 2020.

We know that how children and young people spend their leisure-time has an important influence and impact on children and young people’s resilience and their quality of life. Engaging in constructive activities can increase children and young people’s positive attitudes, improve motivation, increase aspirations, develop social and life skills, enhance interpersonal skills and help build social capital. All of which is vital for children and young people to help them avoid taking risks such as experimenting with drugs/alcohol or being involved in anti-social behaviour and crime. Participation in positive activities can also help increase the resilience of vulnerable children and young people who are trying to rebuild their lives. For children and young people with physical or learning disabilities it can be a lifeline and reduce social isolation. For groups such as young carers, positive activities provide respite and can improve their outlook and quality of life.

Many excellent projects meeting the broad aspirations above and be targeted at children and young people 8 – 19 years (extended to 24 years for young people with learning disabilities) were funded during the lifetime of this grant.

The Chill Out Fund is now open again and considering bids for Capital only. Download the Application Form and Guidance notes.

How did this website come into being?

When the YOF/YCF started out, decisions were made by Divisional Youth Forums.

Members of Divisional Youth Forums had regular meetings where they discussed ways to improve the process of applying to the Youth Opportunity and Capital Funds.

They also discussed ways of improving the process of allocating and approving grants.

At these meetings, some young people helped by writing content and others by selecting or drawing designs, like this one.