The Big Lottery Fund has provided nearly £1m to expand a London-based DIY volunteering scheme throughout England and Wales.

Volunteer it Yourself (VIY) is run by London Youth in collaboration with home improvement supplier Wickes. The expansion will see local Wickes tradespeople mentor and train young people to renovate 47 youth centres over the next two years, with participants gaining qualifications from City and Guilds.

BIG has provided a grant of £940,000 towards the scheme and Wickes will also donate tools and materials for the projects, matching each youth centre to their local store.

Rosie Ferguson, chief executive of London Youth, said: “We believe the partnership we have developed has the power to genuinely transform the experience that young people have within their clubs, to help them learn from skilled older people in a way that benefits all within their community and have a better chance of building their own career.”

BIG awarded the grant to scale up the project, following a pilot of the project at a youth club in South London.

Sophie Manzi (pictured) who was a participant on the VIY pilot at the Streatham Youth and Community Trust club, said: “VIY exposed me to an industry I had never considered before and the accreditation I gained in building and work skills has given me a real advantage moving forward.”

London Youth developed the programme with the Co-Sponsorship Agency, an organisation which works to develop cross-sector partnerships.

Tim Reading, director at the Co-Sponsorship Agency, said: “VIY is a great example of different organisations working together to achieve something significant that none of the partners could achieve alone.”