UK Youth has partnered with the Pears Foundation to help UK youth organisations to cover rising costs due to the cost-of-living crisis through a new £4.5 million Cost-of-Living Grant Programme.

The overarching aims of the programmes are to:

o Drive positive outcomes for young people, including improved health and well-being and skills for work, employability and life, and
o Expand and improve local youth facilities and their services,
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UK Youth is offering grants for up to 3 years to charitable and not-for-profit youth organisations across the UK. To be eligible, youth organisations must:

o Have been operating for at least 2-years.
o Have an annual turnover of under £500,000, and
o Evidence that at least 70% of beneficiaries will be aged 8-25 years old.

Grant are designed to be unrestricted (for example, salaries, sessional workers, utility costs) and are limited to 10% of the most recent turnover of the youth organisation. For instance, if an applicant had a turnover of £100,000 in its last financial year, it can apply for a grant of up to £10,000 a year for each of 3 years.

Please note that applicants requesting £10,000 per year or less will be fast-tracked and should receive a notification on the outcome of their application within 3 to 4 weeks of applying.

Applications for more than £10,000 a year will receive a notification on the outcome of their application within 7 weeks of applying.

Further information, guidance and an online application form can be found on the UK Youth Foundation website. Applicants will be required to register with UK Youth before they can make an application.

Applications may be made at any time and will be assessed on an ongoing basis. UK Youth is providing a regular Online Information Session about the scheme each week up to the end of May 2023. Registration for an Information Session can be made on the UK Youth website.