WINNERS ANNOUNCED FOR NEW FUND TO GET MORE YOUNG PEOPLE INVOLVED IN SOCIAL ACTION THROUGH UNIFORMED GROUPS

The Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne today confirmed the list of uniformed youth groups to benefit from the £10 million Uniformed Youth Social Action Fund.  The Church Lads' and Church Girls' Brigade have secured a grant to increase its membership across the UK, Northern Ireland and Wales.

The winners have been announced following a competitive grant process that aims to increase by 15,000 the number of places available for young people to join uniformed youth groups across the UK. This project is being funded from LIBOR fines pot which has been raised from banks for misdemeanours and attempted manipulation of financial markets.

Successful groups receiving funding include Girlguiding, Marine Society & Sea Cadets, St John Ambulance and The Scouts Association. In total 14 organisations have been chosen and the fund will be used to encourage young people living in disadvantaged areas or hard to reach communities to get involved in social action by joining uniformed youth organisations.

The latest allocation from the LIBOR fines pot builds on nearly £150 million which has already gone to support the armed forces community, military charities and other good causes.

George Osborne, Chancellor of the Exchequer, said:

“I am delighted that we are using LIBOR fines to improve the lives of thousands of young people, by supporting these good causes. It is right that money paid in fines by people who demonstrated the worst of the values in our society is now being used to support those who demonstrate the very best and bring about a positive change.”

Brooks Newmark, Minister for Civil Society said:

“The Uniformed Youth Social Action Fund is an excellent example of how the Cabinet Office is using money collected through LIBOR fines to increase social action across the UK. All recipients are well placed to provide young people with more opportunities to work on social action activities in their local area. This scheme will help to build a generation of young people with raised aspirations and greater prospects for their future.”

Rosie Thomas, Director of Youth United Foundation said:

“We are delighted to announce this allocation of funding to a number of fantastic uniformed groups which carry out grassroots social action all over the country and have a track record of unlocking potential in young people. These grants will enable them to attract more young members, particularly in deprived areas, who in turn will benefit from the experiences, skills and confidence they gain as part of a uniformed group.”

This supports the Step Up To Serve Campaign which seeks to double the number of young people involved in social action by 2020. A second funding round from the £10 million fund, enabling uniformed youth groups to pilot new and innovative approaches to reach deprived communities and hard to reach groups will be launched in the Autumn.

Further details will be published in the coming weeks to announce the plans for the coming 2 years and how the money will be spent.