In 2024, The Youth Association was approached by HUDL, a youth development agency based in London, to partner on a programme pitched as the ‘Involving Young People’s Fund’. Birthed from the brains of the Involving Young People Collective, a group of driven young people who are passionate about creating social change, the IYPC aimed to change the landscape of grant making and incorporate their values for co-production into a space which see’s little youth involvement. This new and radical initiative envisioned a world where young people would be empowered to drive change, bringing together a group of 14-23 year olds to design their own funding application and impact their communities through distribution of funding. Not only would this group be paid for their participation, but the aim was to ensure they made every decision! From design of the fund, eligibility criteria, and the eventual recipients of the funding.
Through research, Wakefield and Barnsley were identified as areas in the North of England with a need for increased community funding. The Youth Association was recognised as a partner with strong connections and knowledge of both areas, and whose values aligned with the programme, particularly placing emphasis on youth work involvement.
To bring this vision to life, HUDL partnered with the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation, an independent funding body that committed £90,000 for the group to distribute. Meanwhile, Leeds Community Foundation was brought on board as a local grants foundation to support the programme through financial and logistical challenges, as well as to assist with the promotion and distribution of funding to charitable organisations across Wakefield and Barnsley.
Embracing this exciting new challenge, The Youth Association began recruiting for the Involving Young People’s Fund, promoting the opportunity through its networks. Twenty applications were received. Following an interview process designed to identify the most enthusiastic candidates, thirteen young people aged 15 to 22 from the two areas were recruited due to their exceptional applications.
With the wheels of change beginning to turn, the partnership, comprising The Youth Association, the IYPC, HUDL, Leeds Community Foundation, and the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation got to work. They completed the planning, and then, weekly online sessions and monthly in-person meetings were scheduled from September 2024 to June 2025. Facilitated by the IYPC and The Youth Association, the training would include topics such as Critical Thinking, Privilege and Bias, Values and Community. These sessions aimed to equip the group with the knowledge and skills necessary to design and assess their own grant.
At this stage, the partnership recognised the importance of getting the programme right. To create systemic change, it needed to be replicable, allowing other community foundations to be inspired by the project and to continue offering young people a voice in funding decisions. Do You, a research partner organisation, was recruited to support this goal by gathering insights and reflections throughout the programme. Their report, comprised of research findings from the group and due in October 2025, will explore how the programme can continue to drive change.
As the programme progressed, the group excelled, demonstrating their growth in ability and knowledge in grant funding. This led to the creation of their fund and a plan for assessing applicants. The group chose to target micro to medium-sized organisations that prioritised their selected focus areas: Mental Health, Youth Homelessness, and the LGBTQIA+ Community. They decided to fund nine organisations with £10,000 each, using a youth-led assessment process involving expressions of interest and interviews conducted from June to July 2025.
To facilitate the final decision-making process, the group visited YHA Haworth in July. A youth hostel located in Bradford, where they finalised which organisations would receive funding. The young people came together to make their decisions, celebrating their hard work and reflecting on their growth over the 10-month journey. Many became emotional as they realised, they had achieved what they set out to do; the IYPC members even shared gratitude for a vision of their design which had finally become reality, showing their dedication and passion for their practice.
In the end, the group selected eight outstanding organisations to receive funding from the Involving Young People’s Fund, setting a new standard for grant-making and proving, once and for all, that when given the opportunity, young people can truly thrive.
I’d like to thank our partners from the IYPC, HUDL, Leeds Community Foundation, and Esmée Fairbairn for their hard work in making this wonderful programme possible. It has been a pleasure working with you all, and without any one of you, these young people would not have been given this opportunity. To you all, and to the incredible young people who demonstrated the power of youth voice, I say, thank you.
