New fund is launched
A Young Funder’s Grant has been launched as part of Care Experienced Week celebrations.
The Scottish Throughcare and Aftercare Forum (Staf) is administering the scheme where young people in Scotland aged 16 – 26 with care experience can apply for a grant of up to £750.
The fund has been devised by project workers at Staf and crucially young people with care experience who will also assess applications and award the funding.
The grants process has been fully co-produced by young people and Staf including developing the fund criteria, creating the application form and the devising the process for assessment.
The grant can be used to pay for a wide range of needs and activities including electronic items, training course, clothing, pets and even holidays. A full list of what can and can’t be funded can be found at www.staf.scot/young-funders-grant alongside guides on how to apply.
Tommy Dey, Staf Project Worker said: "I'm excited to announce the launch of our Young Funder's Grant. Our team of care experienced young people have been working hard to put together a grant that is for the care experienced, created by the care experienced. The grant aims to help individuals with various aspects of their life- from mental health to training opportunities- and I'm grateful to be part of such a process."
Jo Derrick, Staf CEO added: “I'm delighted that Staf has been given the opportunity to grant awards on behalf of the Life Changes Trust. As you would expect from Staf we have collaborated with care leavers to co-design the individual awards that are open to care experienced young people to apply for, to help achieve short or long-term goals of their choice. Please help us to spread the word".
Those applying will be asked to detail costs involved and demonstrate why they would benefit from the grant. The forms will be anonymised and assessed by members of the Youth Funder’s Grant team.
Application forms can be downloaded from the website and the deadline for submission is 4 January 2022. All successful candidates will be notified by 15 February.
Mhairi Reid, Life Changes Trust said: “The Life Changes Trust understands the transformational impact that individual grants can have on the lives of young people with care experience. As we approach the closure of the Trust in March 2022, we want to encourage other organisations to do more of this work.
“We believe that this Young Funder’s project will have a powerful impact on everyone involved in it and we are proud to support Staf's commitment to coproduction with young people”’
