Youth opportunity fund

Press release - 10 September 2007

Youth Opportunity Fund

If you are a young person aged between 13-19, why not apply to Shropshire County Council's Youth Opportunity Fund? You can apply for funds for a wide range of activities including arts, sport, games, team building or even training to run your own business. You may apply as a group or individually.

The fund is split into three equal blocks, which are then allocated to the north, south and central areas of the county. In this round £22,000 is available for each area, which must be allocated and spent this year. So, get your application forms in quickly.

Daniel Greenwood, one of the Speak Out Group who helps assess the applications, said: "This is a fantastic opportunity for young people to get money for activities."

The application forms are now available, and are designed so that young people can fill them in themselves.

Forms are available from Shropshire County Council's Youth Service both electronically and by post. Please email youth.service@shropshire-cc.gov.uk or call (01743) 254488.

The deadline for returning applications is Friday 5 October at 12 noon.

ENDS

Additional information

You should be able to demonstrate that you will learn something positive from taking part.

This fund is used to provide activities for young people. This is the second year of operation, and so far more than 140 grants have been awarded to projects.

Some of the projects that have been successful in previous rounds include a Safe New Drivers project, drumming workshops, skate park equipment and a woodland survival weekend. The majority of the grants are for amounts of £1,000, and make a real difference to the range of activities that are organised for young people.

A group from Market Drayton Youth Centre received £1,300 to provide equipment so that members can set up a band and run music workshops. Peter Adams, one of the group, said"‘Without this help we would not be able to perform the songs we like. It also means the equipment is there for anyone else who wants to set up a band. It’s brilliant."