Leeds Local Youth Transformation Project: Innovation Pot (for youth empowerment)

Local Youth Transformation Project: Innovation Pot

Funding from a pot of £16,000 is available to fund projects which are breaking down barriers and building confidence, skills and resilience in young people through youth empowerment.

The project must:

• aim to test a new idea or approach for youth engagement, skill building, or social impact. ·
• demonstrate potential for scalability if successful
• include clear strategies for inclusive participation, addressing diversity and accessibility
• introduce a novel concept or method in community development, education, or youth engagement.

Applicants must explain why this approach is different from existing programs.

The fund now open, is part of the Leeds Local Youth Transformation Programme and is the second round. The aim is to understand more about the barriers young people face with regards to public safety  that came out in the Youth review and in other consultation with young people. Key messages include:

• Feeling Safe in public spaces
• Fear of travelling to other parts of the city.
• Fear of accessing new services
• Wanting to make new friends
• Having access to fun activities
• Having a trusted adult and safe space to go to

This list is not exclusive and the fund is looking for partners or a consortiums to deliver a programme of activities for those young people who may not always get their voices heard. The key outcome would be to provide learning and insights into how we can break down barriers, support engagement and make services/support inclusive and accessible for all.

Any proposal should be young person led, innovative and creative approaches that may not have been utilised or tested before and may include several sessions, events, activities, a residential or any combination (or other approaches). The approach aims to ensure that investment is responsive to identified needs and directly informed by youth voice. Ideally, we would want this to be focused on those young people age 14-16 who may be isolated and who are seldom heard. This may include NEET Young people, Young Carers, Care leavers, or young people educated at home, however this is not fixed and we recognise the need for a mixed group of young people in terms of group dynamics. Ideally, we would want to see opportunities to build into local youth workforce development opportunities with a legacy beyond the project. Outcomes we would expect although not limited to:

• Increased confidence to access services and take part in activities.
• Increased resilience
• New friendships
• Improved youth engagement and skill building
• Insights and understanding of the barriers to participation and engagement.
• Suggestions for what we can do to break down barriers.
• What works when engaging with young people who seldom have their voice heard.
• Learning for future developments.
• How we can make our services/support more accessible and inclusive.

Projects must be delivered between November and 28^th February 2027 and reporting back on outcomes by 19^th March 2027.

For full details please take a look at the Project Support Documents.

For an informal conversation, please contact Lesley.Wilkinson@leeds.gov.uk

Applications will be scored on specific criteria, and young people will be involved in the decision-making process.

Please see publicity for the fund, grant criteria and application form which you will find here:

Application innovation

Local Innovation – grant criteria v2

LYT – PUBLICITY – INNOVATION

A previous funded project included:

“Beyond Harehills: Discovering Leeds, GRT Team, Childrens Services (Young Futures Funded Project). Funding was used to provide a programme of educational, cultural and recreational trips for Gypsy, Roma and Traveller young people during the summer holidays. Young people were actively involved in planning activities, researching bus routes, budgeting for food, making group decisions and learning how to travel safely and independently across the city. Visits included local parks, museums, libraries and cultural attractions, helping participants build confidence, develop practical life skills, strengthen friendships and broaden their knowledge of Leeds. The project also included a family celebration event to recognise young people’s achievements and strengthen connections between families and support services”

Proposal submission deadline: Friday 6^th November.

Contract awarded by: Friday 13 November.

Interview panel: Wednesday 11th November.

Send submissions to Lesley.wilkinson@leeds.gov.uk