Press Release
£60 million boost for young Londoners
20-9-2007 569
Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone, and Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families, Ed Balls, today outlined a £60 million ‘London Youth Offer’, which will fund services for young people in the capital. Ken Livingstone and Ed Balls met young Londoners during a visit to Salmon Youth Centre, Southwark today.
The £60 million funding programme from the Mayor and Government will increase the range of services for teenagers, provide more support for parents and give young people new opportunities to gain new skills and raise their aspirations.
A key element of the funding will encourage young Londoners to get involved in decisions about the provision of youth facilities across London.
The £60 million ‘London Youth Offer’ is part of a package of measures from the Mayor of London and Government to address concerns over the high levels of child poverty in the capital, increase funding for youth services and target the most deprived and hard to reach young Londoners who are most likely to be victims of crime and at risk of involvement in anti-social behaviour or street gangs.
The ‘London Youth Offer’ is also designed to provide additional resources for community initiatives, which are proven to work effectively and help turn young people’s lives around.
The £60 million funding package will run over two years, £20 million will come from the Mayor’s London Development Agency and £40 million from the Department for Children, Schools and Families. The Government’s contribution is part of the substantial investment in places to go and things to do for teenagers announced in the 10 Year Youth strategy, ‘Aiming high for young people’ in July. This money will be made up of cash to fund positive activities for young people and money for the Youth Opportunity and Youth Capital Funds. Funding for other local areas will be announced in due course.
Ken Livingstone said,
"The most common complaint that Londoners raise with me, in relation to the quality of life of their children, is that there are just not enough youth facilities any more. This £60 million funding will provide more places to go and things to do for young Londoners right across the capital.
‘Just as we have invested in public transport and put police back on the streets, we are now aiming to reverse the decline of facilities for young people. Investment and planning for the future of our city has to include our young people.
‘This funding is not a substitute for the resources already being made available for the delivery of youth work by Government, but should be used to provide additional support and make a real difference to the lives of young people in the capital.
‘With the highest levels of child poverty in Britain, it is vital that every young Londoner is given the chance to fulfill their potential. The funding will give children and teenagers from London’s poorest estates and communities right across the capital opportunities to learn new skills through training, sports and cultural activities.”
Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families, Ed Balls said:
“This money will give young Londoners places to go and things to do - but it is about far more than getting them off the streets. Teenagers need to take part in out of school activities to help them develop the life skills they need to get a job and get on – and this is especially important for the young people who might not otherwise get these opportunities.
“I am delighted to be working with Ken Livingstone to deliver real improvements in the opportunities available for young people after school and at weekends across the capital.
“Earlier this year we launched a Ten Year Youth strategy for young people and part of that was about giving young people a direct say in how the money is spent in their local areas.
”That’s why we will be working closely with the Mayor of London, the boroughs and crucially young people in their communities to make a difference and support for the positive work that is already going on in many parts of the capital. I hope this will provide a boost to all of London’s children and young people.”
Ends.
Notes to Editors
1. The additional £20m from the Mayor will comprise two main elements:
First, a 'universal' offer across all London Boroughs, which will sit alongside the extended Youth Opportunity and Youth Capital Funds and will provide more things to do and places to go for young Londoners.
The second element will be allocated on a more targeted basis for young people at risk of exclusion, building on the approach of Positive Activities for Young People.
The Mayor will be consulting on the details shortly. The money will come on stream in 2008/09 and continue through 2009/10.
2. The Salmon Sports Centre
The Salmon Youth Centre is a youth work agency. They are supported by a number of organisations to deliver high quality; non-discriminatory and inclusive youth work in and around Bermondsey. A range of sports is available for mixed groups, girl groups and those involved in the duke of Edinburgh Award scheme. They include: basketball, football, volleyball, athletics, tennis and rugby. The centre is available to all children and young people living in Southwark.
Funding for the centre comes from a variety of sources, including Southwark Council, Grant Making Trust, individual supporters, Churches, London Development Agency and companies. The Salmon centre was granted capital funding in 2003/04 for the expansion of Centre to provide employment / skills / enterprise services. Southwark Council has contributed a total £1.7m towards the capital cost of the building. The total London Development Agency investment was £590,160.
The Salmon Youth Centre is based at, 43 Old Jamaica Road, Southwark, SE16 4TE
3. In July, the Department for Children, Schools and Families announced a Ten Year Youth Strategy for young people. Aiming High for Young People: a ten-year strategy for positive activities. The Strategy is supported by £184million over the three-year period of 2008-11, alongside continuing funding of £495million, across England:
This includes the continuation on the Positive Activities for Young People (PAYP) programme, and the Youth Opportunity and Capital Funds (YOF/YCF). In, London the investment in the continuation of these programmes equates to just over £40 million over 2008-10. This is the DCSF contribution to which the announcement above refers.
Across England, baseline funding for the continuation of the PAYP is £46.5 million per annum; and for the continuation of YOF and YCF is £57.5 million per annum.
4. There are many existing initiatives and support for young people within the GLA group, including: projects currently funded by the London Development Agency of approximately £2.6m that are primarily focused on youth disaffection and NEET (not in education, employment and training) initiatives, and those not engaged by the system; Transport for London's free bus/tram fares scheme of the Mayor for all under-18s in full-time education helps young people to access youth services and other leisure, sporting and cultural activities across London, so that thousands of families with school-age children are saving up to £350 a year for each child; Metropolitan Police Service’s Kickz project in partnership with the FA, Premier and Football Leagues is an estate based youth diversion project providing three, two-hour football training sessions per week run by professional coaches; and the London Fire Brigade’s Young Firefighter Cadet Scheme is currently being piloted in two boroughs, with the planned aim of cadets being able to achieve a BTec qualification.
Fuller details available.
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