BBC Children in Need has announced the opening of a new £1 million programme – the We Move: Youth Social Action Fund – to empower Black children and young people, through youth social action, working in partnership with BBC Radio 1Xtra.
As announced in 2020, BBC Children in Need has committed £10 million in funding over 10 years to create and invest in opportunities for Black children and young people. Following a period of consultation and development with Black led organisations and young people, The We Move: Youth Social Action Fund is the first funding stream of that 10-year programme.
Youth social action describes the activities that children and young people do to make a positive difference and drive change in their communities and for the world around them. Through youth social action, children and young people use their voice and lived experience to tackle subjects that matter to them.
The We Move: Youth Social Action Fund is also part of BBC Children in Need’s £4m Sharing Power (Youth Social Action) Programme and is one of two youth social action funds that are open this year to local charities and projects supporting children and young people throughout the UK.
The charity’s Sharing Power (Youth Social Action) Programme has been made possible with thanks to £1,290,300 from the #iwill Fund (a £54 million joint investment between The National Lottery Community Fund and the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, £490,000 from The Hunter Foundation and £2,239,000 from BBC Children in Need.
As announced on Richie Brave’s BBC Radio 1Xtra show – 1Xtra Talks – last night (Sunday 3 April 2022), the We Move: Youth Social Action Fund will help to build Black children and young people’s skills and will empower them to take an active and leading role in developing solutions to issues which affect their lives and their communities. Youth social action involves activities such as influencing, fundraising and volunteering, all of which enable young people to make a positive difference in their communities as well as develop their own skills and knowledge.
The fund is open to not-for-profit organisations who currently work with Black children and young people aged 18 and under in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Grants of up to £50,000 will be awarded for up to 18 months, with an initial development phase of up to six months so that projects can design and develop their work with the help of the children and young people that they are working with.
Black-led infrastructure plus organisation, the Ubele Initiative, will act as a community partner for the fund, and will support BBC Children in Need and BBC Radio 1Xtra to communicate the fund to organisations which would benefit from the programme and provide bespoke support to successful applicants.
BBC Radio 1Xtra will be supporting the programme throughout, working in partnership with BBC Children in Need to develop opportunities to tell the stories of the communities and individuals involved, across the network.
BBC Children in Need currently funds over 2,400 charities and projects across the UK supporting disadvantaged children and young people in the UK from a wide range of backgrounds, including a number of projects which focus on addressing the specific challenges faced by young Black people. This fund represents a significant further commitment from the charity to tackle these issues, remove barriers and create opportunities.
Simon Antrobus, Chief Executive of BBC Children in Need, said: “As a charity, we want to ensure that all children and young people are supported to thrive and be the best they can be, and that’s why this fund is so important. Young Black people’s voices sit at the heart of this fund, and have shaped and developed it to ensure it will go on to empower other young Black people to use their voices to drive change and support them to tackle the issues and subjects that both affect them, and most importantly, matter to them. I cannot wait to see the legacy this fund leaves.”
Faron McKenzie, Head of Station, BBC Radio 1Xtra said: “BBC Radio 1Xtra is committed to giving a voice to Black children and young people across the nation and telling the stories of those striving to make a difference in their local communities. We are fully behind this new fund that aims to protect Black joy and imagination and believe that this collaboration will deliver a positive force for change within our society.”
