The aim of the Youth Opportunity Fund is to involve young people, especially those who are hard to reach, in identifying positive activities and things to do, and to support their role as decision makers, grant givers and project leaders. They should be encouraged to consider local needs and circumstances as a part of their role in shaping provision for young people beyond their immediate group.
Local Authorities have been consulting and planning with young people on how to enable these funds to be put into the hands of young people. Youth workers have been seeking out methods for groups and individual young people who would not traditionally have accessed Government funding, to be central to the planning of these initiatives.
Government Office is working to support this local activity and is also reporting on local progress twice-yearly and providing an interface with Local Authorities and the National Youth Agency to capture good practice to feed into policy development.