I hope you have all had a fantastic summer packed full of exciting projects for young people. September is just around the corner and this month’s vInfo is packed full of news about mentoring schemes for small charities, small grants and handy free seminars about writing the all-important funding bid.

 

 

For Youth’s Sake Campaign

 

 

Children and Young People Now have launched the For Youth’s Sake Campaign. The campaign aims to highlight the importance of vital initiatives from youth counselling to youth clubs to youth projects, all who find themselves at the front line of cuts.

 

 

The campaign has three priorities:

 

The first calls on the government to set out its vision for young people, as we know little about how it intends to help young people achieve their full potential.

 

The second priority asks for young people to have a genuine say on a local and national level in shaping the services that affect them and calls for them to be given powers to decide where money is spent in their communities.

 

Third, we’re calling on employers to invest in the youth workforce to ensure young people are provided with the best possible support from properly trained staff and volunteers. We also want those who work with young people to feel valued for the vital role they play in their communities.

 

CYP Now would like you to sign an online pledge and hear stories about how young people’s services are making a difference in their communities.

 

  Hedley Foundation

 

 

The Hedley Foundation would like applications for grants of up to £5000 for projects (mainly one offs) that support young people with their education, recreation, support, training, health and welfare.

 

 

To apply for a grant download an application form from their website.

 

 

The Trustees meet six times a year. The closing date for applications is three weeks before a trustee meeting. The trustee’s next meeting will be on Wednesday 29th September 2010; therefore the deadline for applications is Wednesday 8th September 2010.

 

 

First Light

 

 

First Light funds and inspires film projects with 5-19 year olds across the UK.

 

They currently have three grants available:

 

 

Script Grant - up to £3,000 available for funding script writing projects that team young people with script professionals.

 

Pilot Grant – up to £5,000 available for funding one short film of up to 5 minutes in duration.

 

Studio Grant – up to £30,000 available for funding between two and four films of up to 10 minutes in duration.

 

 

All their grants require match funding.

 

 

For more information and to apply please visit their website.

 

 

The next deadline is Tuesday 5 October 2010.

 

Leaders Together

 

 

Leaders Together is a new mentoring scheme recently launched by TimeBank and funded by a grant for the City Bridge Trust. The mentoring scheme offers small charities and community groups in London support and advice from senior figures from the public, private and voluntary sectors.

 

 

 

The aim is for mentors to spend at least 24 hours helping the charities and community groups over a six-month period, to provide advice on areas such as fundraising, financial management, communications and lobbying. 

 

 

 

You can sign up with TimeBank, to be kept you up-to-date with what's happening and to be notified when they're ready to start training, by visiting the website.

 

 

 

We’ve been busy updating our website over the last month. We can now advertise opportunities directly on the site and young people can register with us online. You can access previous versions of vInfo, read great case studies and have a browse through our resources section offers the volunteer manager everything they need to know about involving young people in their organisation, useful websites and forums, and case studies on the experiences of young people, it’s worth a look.