Why it was needed

There was a lack of funding and services for young people in our local area of Norwood and we wanted to let the local young people have access to funding, opportunities and training and to have a voice and say in what should happen in the area for young people.

See our video - asking young people what they wanted funding for,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kcq86aaBepY

What's being done

We are a group of young people (14-25) who give out small grants to other young people (11-25) who want to do something positive for their local community. As well as funding small grants for local projects £50-500 we also provide training opportunities to young people and offer free accreditation in the form of Youth Achievement Awards and Arts Awards. This is our effort to reward young people for their volunteering and to make sure they gain the recognition they deserve. We currently operate accross Lambeth and Southwark(in Dulwich,Norwood,GypsyHill,HerneHill,Peckham) but there are YouthBanks all over the UK so if you aren't local to us have a look and see if there is one near you, www.youthbank.org.uk

How it started

For more information about The Co-operative YouthBank please comtact us;
web: www.youthbank.co.uk
e-mail: info@youthbank.co.uk
Tel: 07903 311 513

or if you are local to us and would like information about how to apply for a grant then give us a call or e-mail and we can have a chat about what you might like to do.

More

A group of us from the local community who were passionate about making a difference got together and began applying to become a YouthBank. Once we were licenced we began having fortnightly meetings and planning training and events for local young people. We have now began giving out grants and making decisions on where they should go and how we can support the projects we fund by offering advice and training on how they can set up and run their project.