Council awards over £1million to activities benefitting Southwark’s young people

28 February 2022

Local organisations and community groups joined Cllr Ali at Tooley Street to celebrate funding for activities that will help young people in Southwark achieve positive futures.

Southwark Council opened applications to their Positive Futures Fund For Young People last year. Proposals were reviewed by a board which included young people from Southwark’s Youth Parliament, the voice for young people across the borough on issues that directly impact them.

Individual grants range from £20,000 to a maximum of £60,000 over two years for activities that will run from 1 April 2022 to 31 March 2024, including:

• Creative sessions in photography, film-making, painting, drawing, and performance with Bermondsey Project Space, a not-for-profit organisation based on Bermondsey Street
• Co-designing and building a garden, food growing, cooking and other life skills with educational charity Global Generation based at their Paper Garden in Canada Water
• Creating animations, designing and developing websites, and building computer games through Ignite Hub’s computer programming sessions
• Weekend sports, gym access and other physical activities with Coin Street Centre Trust based at Bankside
• Personal development workshops with SkyWay Charity covering topics such as healthy eating, money management and CV writing

Cllr Jasmine Ali, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Children, Young People & Education, said: “We are proud to be supporting such a fantastic range of local activities all designed to help young people lead more positive lives. Young people told us exactly what they wanted when we consulted with schools across Southwark and I am delighted to make good on their requests.

“Young people will gain invaluable new skills, experiences and relationships, helping to build their self-confidence and improve their overall sense of wellbeing. Our Youth New Deal is all about young people having the support and opportunities they need to progress and flourish as we recover from the pandemic.”

Investment into youth services sits under the council’s Youth New Deal. This was launched in July last year to put the borough’s young people at the heart of decision-making and in control of their future.

Cllr Jasmine Ali added: “More grants for young people will be announced very soon! I’m really excited as this money will empower young people to pursue activities or courses that might not be open or affordable to them.”

Page last updated: 28 February 2022