Government announces £16.5 million youth covid-19 support fund

An emergency funding package to protect the immediate future of grassroots and national youth organisations across the country has been announced by the Government.

The Youth Covid-19 Support Fund, which will be open to grassroots youth clubs, uniformed youth groups, and national youth and umbrella organisations, will help to mitigate the impact of lost income during the winter period due to the coronavirus pandemic, and ensure services providing vital support can remain open.

The funding will be allocated from the Government’s unprecedented £750 million package of support which is benefiting tens of thousands of frontline charities, so they can continue their vital work. More than £60 million of this package has already been provided to organisations working with vulnerable children and young people.

This is on top of a number of other schemes benefitting young people announced in recent months, including:

• £85 million in match funding via the DCMS Community Match Challenge which benefited organisations including the youth organisations Onside Youth Zones,The Scouts Association, Girlguiding, and UK Youth.

• £90 million released from dormant accounts to support charities including those tackling youth unemployment

• £200 million Government investment in early intervention and prevention support initiatives to support children and young people at risk of exploitation and involvement in serious violence, through the Youth Endowment Fund.

• Over £2 billion of funding to help young people into employment via the Kickstart scheme.

The youth sector has also had access to hundreds of millions of pounds of support this year through the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme and other cross economy support schemes.

Wider funding for young people will be confirmed in the Government’s Spending Review.

Further details on the Youth Covid-19 Support Fund, including eligibility and how to apply, will be announced in due course.

Published 25 November 2020