Eric Pickles has announced that his Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) will give a coalition of youth volunteering bodies £10m to train 2,700 new adult volunteers.
Youth United is a made up of youth volunteering bodies, including the Scouts, Girlguiding UK and Army Cadets. They were brought together by the Prince of Wales in 2009 to work together with the aim of making sure that every young person has the opportunity to join a youth group.
The money comes out of the DCLG's fund for integration. With the funding, organisations will be able to set up 400 new youth groups, providing places for 10,000 young people. Once the groups have been established they are expected to become self-sustaining and fund their running through fundraising activities.
Rod Jarman, chair of the Youth United board said: “We now have a real chance to engage more adults and let them experience and gain from volunteering to help others and to identify new ways of working.”
New groups will be set up in 11 areas where the government has said the biggest impact can be made. The areas that will benefit are:
- Birmingham
- Bradford
- Knowsley
- Hackney
- Manchester
- Middlesbrough
- Newham
- Redbridge
- Rochdale
- Tower Hamlets
In addition, the Prince of Wales Foundation identified at a children's charities summit hosted by the Prince yesterday, four more areas that it will provide additional funding to through the Prince of Wales charities, including the Prince's Trust. They are; Broadwater Farm Estate (Tottenham), Burnley, Burslem (Stoke-on-Trent) and Redcar (Redcar and Cleveland).
The organisations that are part of Youth United are:
- Air Training Corps
- Army Cadets
- Boys’ Brigade
- Fire Cadet
- Girlguiding UK
- Girls Brigade
- Marine and Sea Cadets
- Scouts
- St John Ambulance
- Volunteer Police Cadets
The Prince's Trust, RNLI, Mountain Rescue and BTCV are supporting organisations which deliver programmes to members of the coalition.
