Young people cash injection - deadline approaching!

Throughout March, young people aged 14 - 19 (up to 25 with special educational needs) can apply for money from Brent Council's Youth Opportunity Fund and Youth Capital Fund to finance community projects that will benefit other young people in the borough.

The total amount of money available is £332,400 and from 2 March to 2 April, young people in Brent can make an application.

To be eligible, projects must be led by a young person, show equality and value for money, be realistic and achievable in the timeframe with the money requested, involve the local community and promote the fund and the council in a positive way. Projects must also demonstrate how they help young people to stay safe, be healthy, enjoy and achieve, make a positive contribution and achieve economic well-being.

This is the fourth year that youth opportunity and youth capital funding has been available and so far over 100 local projects have received funding.
A panel of specially trained grant makers, aged between 14 and 19 years old, decides which projects to support.

Past beneficiaries include a youth club which fixes and sells computers cheaply to the community, and the Linx Project, whose research into the Maroon people has taken them to Jamaica and Ghana and led to their own photographic exhibition at London's Dockland's Museum.

Eve Baker from Brent Council's Youth Service, which administers the funds, says: "We are lucky to have such dedicated young people who give up so much of their time to allocate funds to youth projects. Over the last three years, 60 grant makers have been trained, 128 projects have been funded and over 2,000 young people in Brent have benefited."

Anyone interested in applying for money from the Youth Opportunity Fund and Youth Capital Fund can download an application pack from Monday 2 March 2009 by clicking on to www.brent.gov.uk/youthopportunityfund. The deadline for completed applications is Thursday 2 April.

A meeting is also being held on Thursday 5 March to give people a chance to meet the grant makers. It takes place at 6pm at the Bridge Park Centre, Conference Suite, Brentfield, NW10 0RG.

Telephone 020 8937 3761/3680 for more details.