Please find below information from the Welsh Government Youth Engagement team about extra support available for the Youth Sector in Wales;
The Minister for Education and Welsh Language has recently agreed to offer further support to the youth work sector to address some of the challenges of the cost-of-living crisis and protect services as we continue to work with the Youth Work Strategy Implementation Board and other stakeholders on developing and progressing the recommendations of the Interim Youth Work Board. These actions will help respond to the changing needs of young people and organisationsā ability to continue to deliver services that best meet those needs, whilst further work is done to advance the Interim Boardās recommendations.
An overview of these changes is provided below. We will be in touch with current grant recipients and other relevant organisations shortly to provide more details on next steps.
Strategic Voluntary Youth Work Organisation (SVYWO) Grant
The SVYWO grants were originally awarded in early 2022, and currently run from April 2022-March 2024. We will be offering more support via this grant from April 2023 onwards, as follows:
- Current SVYWO grant recipients will be invited to review their plans for 2023-24 to take into account changing circumstances, demand for services, and address any shift in the needs of young people since bids were submitted in autumn 2021.
- Current SVYWO grant recipients will be invited to apply for continuation of funding for a further year (to March 2025).
- We will open a second round of funding via the SVYWO grant for voluntary youth work organisations who were not successful in their applications for the first round, who were not in a position to bid for the first round, or whose circumstances may have changed and would now wish to bid for funding. This new round is planned to run from April 2023-March 2025.
Youth Support Grant
We are planning to make further funding available to local authorities for a two-year period (April 2023-March 2025) via the Youth Support Grant. This additional supportĀ will aim to protect and strengthen partnership working with voluntary organisations and address the challenges mentioned above. A maximum of an additional 5% over and above current allocations will be made available to local authorities for this purpose. Funding will be expected to be focused on delivery of services.
Voluntary Sector Support
We will be working with CWVYS to pilot a new sector support scheme for voluntary youth work organisations during 2023-24. This will be focused on providingĀ organisations with quick and easy access to funding to help alleviate some of the current challenges. Criteria and processes for this scheme will be developed over the next few weeks with the aim of opening the application process in April 2023. More information will be available on this scheme in due course.
Workforce development
In light of the Interim Youth Work Boardās recommendation on workforce development and the challenges relating to recruitment, retention and training, additional support is being made available to ETS during 2023-25 to help extend opportunities in this space across the sector. This expansion will help us better understand the key issues relating to workforce development as well as identifying ways to support practitioners in their youth work careers. This work will focus on supplementing and enriching current opportunities. Planning for this work is at an early stage and the sector will be engaged in its development. Further information will be made available in due course.