£30.5m of capital funding available to youth services in England

Better Youth Spaces, a £30.5m capital grants programme funded by the UK Government, launched this week.

The fund, which is administered by Social Investment Business, aims to bring fast-paced benefits to young people.

It will fund small scale-capital projects of £5k-£100k, including capital equipment, small refurbishments and other capital projects to help youth organisations to better support the young people they work with.

The fund is available to not-for-profit youth organisations in 42 priority areas, selected by the government based on the Income Deprivation Affecting Children Index (IDACI) at the upper tier local authority level. 

The Better Youth Spaces programme aims to improve:      

• The reach of activities provided 
• The safety of existing youth facilities 
• The youth sector’s capacity and quality to deliver a range of enrichment activities 
• The financial sustainability of youth facilities

It will fund priority areas on the basis of youth need.

Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, Rt Hon Lisa Nandy MP, said: "We have heard loud and clear from young people that they need access to spaces where they can develop their talents, build confidence, and build relationships.  

"As part of our Plan for Change, we are investing over £30 million directly into youth facilities across our communities this year. This will allow young people to have a supportive environment to help them make their ambitions a reality.

"For too long young people have been an afterthought, but through the National Youth Strategy, we have carried out the biggest listening exercise with young people in a generation, giving them the opportunity to shape the policies that will affect their lives".

Better Youth Spaces is open for applications now.

Find out more and apply for funding