Lincoln City Foundation have been awarded a transformational Youth Investment Fund grant to expand its services to young people across Lincolnshire.
It is very welcome news for young people supported by the Foundation who will benefit from the funding and means the Foundation will be able to dramatically expand their education, social action and sports provision.
The Foundation is one of 43 youth services in England to benefit from the first wave of Youth Investment Fund grants, announced by the funder, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport and the charity Social Investment Business, who is delivering the grant programme in partnership with Key Fund, National Youth Agency and Resonance.
The Youth Investment Fund is part of the Government’s National Youth Guarantee to transform and level up opportunities for young people in England. The Youth Investment Fund, of over £300million, aims to build, renovate, or extend youth service facilities, providing a minimum of 45,000 additional positive activities for young people between 11 and 18 - in the parts of the country where new spaces and new opportunities are most needed.
The 43 Youth Investment Fund grants, worth over £90million, are the first to benefit from this new funding. Over the next two years the funding pot will be rolled out to a total of 300 youth services across England. It will enable youth services like the Foundation to transform health, wellbeing, skills, and opportunities for young people. It is a ground-breaking opportunity to prioritise the needs of young people and deliver the life-changing services they need, creating a more equal society for future generations.
The Youth Investment Fund grant of £800,000 will help transform services for young people.
The new services will support the Stacey West redevelopment project, which will create space for delivering expanded BTEC courses and a new term-time youth club as well as open up opportunities to work with external providers.
Other expanded courses include Green Leaders, multi-lingual skills sessions, E-sports and Fighting Fit - which will help young people battling cancer.
Karl McCartney MP said: “Young people across Lincoln deserve to have the opportunity to develop vital skills for life and be empowered to be active members of their local community.
“That is why I welcome the announcement from the Conservative Government which will see the LNER Stadium benefit from £800,000 in funding, transforming the services it provides.
“I am confident this fund will enormously benefit the mental and physical wellbeing of our young people.”
Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer said: “I want every young person to have the opportunity to access the kinds of life-changing activities which expand their horizons and allow them to develop vital life skills.
“The National Youth Guarantee will provide these opportunities and support young people with access to regular club activities, adventures away from home and volunteering opportunities.
“We are supporting this with an investment to create or renovate spaces for youth clubs and activities to support opportunities for thousands of young people across the country who would otherwise miss out.”
Welcoming the Youth Investment Fund grant, Foundation chief executive Martin Hickerton said: “This grant will really help drive our engagement with young people in Lincolnshire, an area where we are seeing greater demand for our services.
“It is an exciting period for the Foundation with the Stacey West redevelopment which will provide a new home for us at the LNER Stadium, giving us facilities which allow us to help our younger generations fulfil the potential.”
The Youth Investment Fund is actively welcoming expressions of interest for youth service projects for new/renewed facilities that will deliver positive outcomes for young people in selected eligible areas in England. Eligible youth service projects can apply now, with applications open until the final grant committee in March 2024. Visit www.youthinvestmentfund.org.uk
