Young Ambassadors 2022-23

Enhanced Young Ambassadors: an enhanced programme of support targeting Alternative Provision (AP), Pupil Referral Units (PRU) and Special Educational Need and Disability (SEND) Schools

This stream is built to ensure that we reach a suitably diverse range of participants and have the biggest impact on those at risk of exclusion. The programme will build on the learnings and evidence from the current Young Ambassadors programme and intensify the enhanced approach. This will ensure schools which work with young people in particularly challenging circumstances can provide meaningful high-quality social action opportunities and increase the likelihood of their students engaging in civic participation beyond the life of the project.

This will further increase learning and innovation working with marginalised young people and especially those at risk of exclusion and see an increased investment in monitoring and evaluation for this programme. It will also create new and innovative learning about the role that youth social action can play in AP and SEND provision.

Young Ambassador Grants: a grants programme to support school-based social action particularly targeting primary schools serving in areas of higher deprivation

This part of the programme will enable young people through their schools, particularly those most marginalised and impacted by the pandemic, through their schools. Young Ambassador Grants will raise the profile of high-quality youth social action in schools by supporting primary and secondary schools in highly targeted areas and enabling teachers to embed successful approaches for youth social action. Schools continue to be the best avenue to social action for young people, especially those from low-income backgrounds and at risk of exclusion. Funding will create a platform and showcase the power of youth social action at its best and most inclusive. This is particularly necessary given the capacity squeeze on teachers and schools because of the pandemic. Schools serving young people more adversely affected by the pandemic face particular pressure and will be targeted using this programme.

Alongside this…

The Mayor of London is very well placed to act as a convenor, bringing together expertise from across the sector and sharing best practice, ensuring that youth social action in London can continue to grow.

The GLA support will include a series of Youth Summits, hosted at City Hall, for young people to lead and attend on issues that they care about, and promote of cross-sector collaboration, advocacy, and capacity building. The GLA will facilitate regular forums to share best practice and address future challenges. We are also keen to use our communication channels to promote our findings around best practice, including the use of third-party publications. We have valued working with other funders and stakeholders across the youth social action sector and wish to continue working closely together. This will happen alongside the New Deal for Young People mission developing best practice in mentoring and youth sector sustainability

The GLA is invested in the role of youth social action in addressing the following long-term outcomes:

Young People are Supported to Reach Their Potential (as part of the New Deal for Young People):

• Young people are provided opportunities that lead to good mental health and physical wellbeing;
• Young people gain greater confidence, communication, and aspiration;
• Young people to feel empowered to shape and lead through stronger relationships with parents, teachers, youth practitioners and peers;
• Schools and wider community groups have more robust infrastructure to be able to offer supportive opportunities to young people long-term.

Increased Community Engagement:

• Young people are engaged within their communities and play more active roles;
• Young people feel greater self-efficacy within their communities;
• Young people have the mechanisms and voice to affect change in their communities;
• Schools increase their status as pillars of the community by generating more impact in their local areas.

Increased Social Integration:

• Young people are more likely to interact with other demographics because of social action activity;
• Young people feel greater engagement with the communities around them as a result of taking part in social action projects;
• Communities are more resilient because of the impact of youth social action projects.

Increased Social Mobility:

• Social action provision is accessible to all;
• Young people can use their experiences of social action to generate personal, character, and skill development;
• Young people are more likely to be employed because of experience gained through social action.

Sustainability and Creating a Habit of Volunteering:

• Young people have a greater awareness of the benefits of social action;
• Young people are given enough opportunity to volunteer in their communities;
• Young people are more likely to contribute time and resource to their communities regularly in the future.

Improvements in community resilience, engagement and outcomes as a result of increased volunteering and social action focused on Mayoral prioritiesReference:1;

• Stronger communities: Projects that support Londoners from different backgrounds to get together on an equal footing, to form meaningful relationships and implement community-led solutions:
• Environment: Projects that address environmental issues, such as air quality, green spaces, climate change and waste;
• Homelessness: Raising awareness on homelessness, supporting local shelters, supporting young people in care/sheltered housing, neighbourhood / community projects;
• Keeping Londoners safe: Projects that address the causes of serious youth violence;
• Food security: Projects that improve people’s access to enough, healthy food in a sustainable way;
• Gender inequality: Projects that address issues around gender inequality such as, women’s rights, the pay gap, women in industry, women’s literacy;
• Racial justice: Projects that address issues around racial inequality and racism such as, disproportionate policing, structural and institutional racism, the racial pay gap, and discrimination;
• Mental Health and well-being: Projects that address stigma and discrimination attached to mental health, raise awareness of healthy living and healthy eating.

Alongside these, the next phase of Young Ambassadors should deliver the following outcomes:

Enhanced Young Ambassadors: More young people (age 8-18) at risk of exclusion get involved in and lead social action activity through their school or education institution:

• Young people at risk of exclusion are more likely to undertake social action in the future as a result of taking part in meaningful, high-quality social action;
• Young people at risk of exclusion have a greater sense of belonging and feel more connected to their local communities;
• Young people at risk of exclusion are more likely to continue Education, Employment, or Training as a result of their experiences of social action and related skill development.

Young Ambassador Grants: More young people (age 8-18) from diverse and under-servedReference:2 backgrounds get involved in and lead social action activity through their school:

• Young people are more likely to develop a habit of volunteering and volunteer more regularly through their school;
• Schools are better able to identify and engage young people who have not previously taken part in volunteering and social action so that they participate for the first time;
• Schools are more likely to embed high-quality youth social action projects into their ongoing practice.

To support the outcomes of the programme, the minimum outputs for each stream are outlined below:

Enhanced Young Ambassadors

• Direct support for 32 PRUs, Alternative Provision, and SEND schools;
• 250 young people engaged in social action;
• 32 meaningful, high-quality social action projectsReference:3;
• 32 small grants awarded to participating schools or institutions

Young Ambassador Grants

• At least 90 grants to targeted primary and secondary schools.
• At least 90 social action projects;
• 2,700 young people engaged in social action, of which 75% meeting eligibility criteria for target beneficiaries (see Target Beneficiaries)

The Survey of Londoners report by City IntelligenceReference:4 highlighted the following evidence in relation to young Londoners:

• Fewer Londoners living in the most deprived neighbourhoods report high personal wellbeing, and wellbeing is closely associated with economic advantage.
  • Involvement in social action is linked to increased well-beingReference:5. At the same time, young people from more deprived neighbourhoods are less likely to participate in social actionReference:6.
• Young people are more likely to feel lonely or socially isolated. 32% of 16-24-year olds feel socially isolated and 12% feel lonely.
  • Involvement in social action is closely linked to increased social connections with young people from similar ages and different backgrounds and increased engagement with local communitiesReference:7.

Students are much more likely to become socially isolated because of the factors that also correlate with enrolment at PRU / APReference:Reference:7, such as socioeconomic background and ethnicity. This is also true amongst SEND studentsReference:8.

With the impact of the coronavirus pandemic over the last two years, we know that lots of these factors and effects have become significantly worse. Lots of the long-term impacts are still emerging, but we already know that young people face worsening mental healthReference:9, increased isolation and lonelinessReference:10, higher risk of engaging in harmful practices or being exploitedReference:11, and challenging peer and family relationships.

We also know that schools continue to be the best avenue for working with those from lower socio-economic groups and that the social action participation gap is lowest where participation via school is at its highestReference:Reference:7. This is reflected in a lower proportion of teachers serving high Free School Meal areas perceiving social action to be embedded in their schoolReference:12. Over the course of the coronavirus pandemic, we are acutely aware that schools and education institutions have also faced incredible pressures and capacity challenges, especially those schools serving young people most at-risk.

In support of the targeted approach, proposals should demonstrate mechanisms which ensure that young people benefitting from the programme are from the intended target groups and that this, and relevant experience, can be demonstrated to the GLA.

For Enhanced Young Ambassadors, focusing on PRUs, AP, and SEND Schools, it is expected that young people will satisfy at least four of the nine Potential Individual Eligibility Criteria (below).

For Young Ambassador Grants, as most social action projects are expected to engage groups of young people, a blended approach will be accommodated where up to 75% of young people participating in social action meet at least three of the nine suggested criteria.

1. Permanently Excluded from school or under Fixed-Term Exclusion – has received one or more fixed term exclusions in the last 12 monthsReference:13;
2. Looked After Child, adopted, or social services involvement within the last 24 months;
3. Entitlement to Pupil Premium Funding / Ever Six Free School Meal, or known to be eligible for Free School Meals but parents not claiming;
4. Known to have been in contact with the police / justice system or gang / criminal involvement; or with an older sibling with history of poor behaviour, contact with the police/justice system or gang/criminal involvement;
5. Has English as an Additional Language (EAL), or immigrant or refugee status;
6. Have a disability, including Special Educational Needs (SEN)Reference:14;
7. Young Carer;
8. Poor attendance, poor behaviour – based on the assessment of their school and/or parent/carer.
9. Low self-esteem and/or confidence, experience of bullying and/or social exclusion – based on the assessment of their school and/or parent/carer.

This is not an exhaustive list and we are interested to hear from you if you believe you work with other categories of young people at risk of exclusion.

Organisations who run projects that provide disadvantaged young people with quality, personalised support. To be eligible organisations need to meet the following criteria:

• Your organisation must be legally constituted. If not, you must be part of a Consortium who is a legally constituted organisation or be in a partnership with a Lead Applicant.
• Your organisation must have a bank account, with two separate signatories, (registered in the name of the applicant organisation) into which the grant can be paid.
• The annual grant proposed should not normally constitute more than 50 per cent of your annual turnover. In exceptional circumstances we will consider applications where this does not apply; you must provide details in your application form.
• Your lead applicant must be able to provide audited/examined accounts for at least one year which comply with the relevant regulatory body.
• You must have a proven track record in the work your organisation does.
• You must have expertise and / or experience in delivering the kind of work set out in your proposal.
• You must have all necessary insurances and safeguarding policies in place and be committed to carrying out DBS checks where required.

Following research and consultation in this area, and building on the GLA’s current knowledge of best practice, proposed projects should include:

Enhanced Young Ambassadors

• Extended support over an academic year for students to develop high quality social action projects which could include mentoring support (in either a formal or informal way) to help with successful delivery;
• Direct support to lead teachers to help raise the quality of the social action projects;
• Budget to award small grants (of c. £1,000) to every institutions’ proposed project;
• Structures for regular consultation of young people to inform programme design, delivery, and evaluation.

Young Ambassador Grants

• A grant award process that ensures a smooth process for teachers and schools with limited capacity;
• Support and resources for teachers and young people to run high-quality and impactful youth social action projects;
• Opportunities for young people to support and mentor others (peer mentoring) in project development and delivery;
• Opportunities for young people to apply and / or pitch their social action projects;
• Celebration events for successful schools and young people.

The GLA is keen to explore new ways of working and to use this project to develop best practice. Therefore, organisations can choose to propose different models but should include suitable research and evaluation to support their proposed delivery methods that will enable them to meet the required outcomes and outputs.

Applicants should reference up-to-date research and evidence to build their proposals. Through our match funder, the #iwill Learning Hub has produced a series of papers on effective youth social action which might be of use.

Proposals should also consider the following principles and frameworks:

Supporting High Quality Social Action

We expect all proposals to apply the #iwill campaign’s six principles of quality youth social actionReference:16 across programme delivery, ensuring they demonstrate a clear double benefit – to the young person who takes part by developing their skills, character and life opportunities as well as to a community, cause or social problem.

Typology of Social Action

Applicants should also show consideration to the type of youth social action projects they intend to provide young Londoners. The #iwill Learning Hub has identified five possible spectrums (below). Applicants may use these as a tool to help identify, justify and elaborate on the type and quality of social action offered through their programme.

(The GLA expects projects to be youth led where possible but does not hold a position on where effective youth social action takes place on the other spectrums appreciating that each issue, setting, and focus is contextually different.)

Delivering a local, place-based initiative

We encourage proposals from organisations whose work acknowledges the complexity of young people's lives and the challenges they face growing up in their local area. We are looking to work with organisations that can use local knowledge and insight to reach, engage and inspire young Londoners, collaborating with others where local expertise exists.

Maximising Youth Voice

Organisations should also demonstrate practical approaches they intend on using to amplify the power and reach of youth voice, including sharing the views, opinions and passions of young Londoners with wider stakeholders.

Collaborating with the GLA

Organisations should also seek to collaborate with and utilise the resource of City Hall and other partner organisations as part of the New Deal for Young People. This includes support for, and absorption of, the mission’s Mentoring Confidence Framework and other resources developed as part of the New Deal for Young People.

The GLA will be providing a dedicated, full-time officer to the management of the programme and will be running regular Youth Summits at City Hall for young people to lead and attend on issues that they care about.

Grants will be allocated via an open and competitive application process. A Funding Application Form will be completed by all applicants. These will be assessed and shortlisted applicants will be invited to a clarification meeting about your proposal. The clarification meeting will include a presentation on your proposed project and questions from a young person and officer panel.

You can request an application form by emailing: [email protected]

If you have any questions around the application process please submit them by email to [email protected]

Frequently Asked Questions we receive will be published with answers on our website. We will not publish a response to any questions that have been submitted after Wednesday 6 July 2022.

We will hold an information session at 10am on Thursday 16 June 2022. You can sign up for this session by emailing [email protected]

The deadline for applications is 5:00pm on Monday 11 July 2022.

You must complete the Funding Application Form including attaching the following supporting documents and email to [email protected]

• copy of your public and employer’s liability insurance
• your Data Protection Policy
• your Safeguarding Policy
• a copy of your organisation’s most recent audited accounts or accounts signed by an independent and qualified accountant

Please note that as part of the assessment process we will be sharing your application with London Councils, Local Authorities, the London Violence Reduction Unit, Voluntary and Community Sector partners, other funders of youth activities and a panel of young people.

The weighting applied to each assessment area is detailed below:

Please note that for all scores, the quality of evidence provided will be considered. Unrealistic, un-sourced and unsubstantiated claims will be awarded fewer marks

Applications Open - Monday 13 June 2022
Submission Deadline for Questions - Wednesday 6 July
Application Deadline - 5pm, Monday 11 July
Clarification Meetings - Friday 15 July
Notification of Success - w/c Monday 18 July 2022
Delivery to Begin - Monday 29 August 2022
Delivery to Finish - Friday 25 August 2023

Applicants are expected to have:

• Copy of the most recent audited accounts or a statement of the organisation’s turnover, profit & loss/income & expenditure and cash flow position for the most recent full year of trading/operations where this information is not available in audited form;
• Budget plan for the proposed programme delivery;
• Financial Regulations (to include procurement rules);
• Copies of the organisation’s public liability and employer’s liability insurance policies;
• Child Protection / Safeguarding Policy, including assurances of recruitment practices, DBS checks, and up-to-date Safeguarding training for staff;
• Volunteer policy including assurance of relevant DBS checks for volunteers;
• Health and safety policy;
• Equality and diversity policy;
• Data security policy;
• The organisation’s governing document – i.e. your Articles of Association or constitution;
• Details of at least one referee who is able vouch for the credibility of your application.

These should be included in your application email. This forms part of the due diligence process which takes place following the selection of the delivery partner. Funding will be awarded on condition that the delivery partner(s) successfully undergoes these due diligence checks.

Please note that decisions to grant funding (if any) are subject to a formal decision-making process. You must not place any reliance whatsoever on the support of the GLA until formally notified in writing and your authorised signatories have executed and returned a funding agreement with which you will be provided by the GLA should your application prove successful.

Accordingly, any expenditure that you incur and/or to which you commit (including that which you have incurred or committed to in relation to the preparation of your proposal for funding) prior to formal notification and execution and return of the funding agreement is incurred and/or committed entirely at your own risk.

Successful applicants must produce an annual delivery plan with key milestones. You must keep the GLA updated with regular progress reports, linked to key milestones and submit quarterly claims to us. You will also be expected to be available for an inception meeting. You may be asked to contribute to the GLA’s future good practice activity by speaking at events, providing case studies of what has worked well etc.

We are committed to promoting the highest standards of evidence and evaluation. All applicants will be expected to demonstrate how they will evaluate the impact of their project on the anticipated outcomes.

We will also commission an independent provider to evaluate the programme.

Successful applicants will be required to meet the monitoring and evaluation requirements of the GLA and the match funder (#iwill Fund). This will include:

• Collecting standard data on the young people and schools taking part and their projects, to demonstrate the Outputs. At a minimum, this will require measuring and evidencing:
  • Number of young people participating in social action activities as a result of the programme, when this occurred;
  • The number of young people participating in each element of the programme and their basic demographic information, including age and ethnicity;
  • Number of schools engaged in the programme, along with URNs, postcodes and lead contacts;
  • Number of social action activities or projects undertaken by young people, including their cause and typology;
  • Case studies and examples of where young peoples’ projects have been particularly impactful, innovative, or have engaged young people less likely to take part in social action.
• Demonstrating impact against the programme Outcomes. This will include:
  • The Outcomes achieved by participants as measured by the organisations existing systems;
  • Engaging with the GLA in the co-production of robust evidence measures that suitably capture the outcomes of the programme which could include use of a diagnostic framework for mentoring practice;
  • Carrying out a baseline and end-of-programme surveys with young people and linked teachers;
  • Gathering case studies and examples of where young people and teachers have experienced transformational change.
• Accommodating GLA and external evaluators in order to increase the robustness of the programme’s impact.
• Evaluating different aspects of operational delivery, including challenges and lessons learned, to support the programme’s on-going improvement and development and our understanding of ‘what works’.

Organisations will be expected to share the above at regular points through the programme with GLA officers.

Child protection and safeguarding is of paramount importance. You must send your safeguarding policy and data protection policy with your application. Your safeguarding policy should include how you:

• respond to concerns about a child's well-being (including disclosures)
• respond to allegations of abuse made against a child 
• recruit the right people to work and volunteer with children 
• prevent and responding to bullying
• respond to concerns about online abuse
• ensure data, photographs and images of children are taken, stored and shared appropriately;
• named Safeguarding officer/s

This guidance has been drawn from the NSPCC and is in line with the requirements of the GLA’s Child Policy and Protection Procedures. Once awarded a grant, delivery organisations will be required to report to the GLA if there have been any child safeguarding incidents. If you are a lead partner or consortium we will ask you to provide information on delivery partner safeguarding arrangements and on how your partnership is supporting and monitoring each other’s child protection policies/process.

Payment will be based on achievement of key milestones and outputs as set out in the applicant’s grant funding agreement.

Objective: A high-volume, London-wide youth social action programme for schools

The programme was initially set up to drive volunteering in the capital, maximising the volunteering legacy from the 2012 Olympics and Paralympics and encourage more Londoners to do something great for their city. The programme was seen to compliment to the flagship Team London Ambassadors programme. The programme intended to inspire young people to volunteer and to inspire them to improve their knowledge of, and connection to, London. The programme was also interested in the use of volunteering as a route to work.

Phase One of the programme was match funded by Spirit of 2012 and Unilever.

Over the first phase of the programme, TLYA sought to engage with as many schools across London as possible. The programme had the ambition of reaching every non-fee paying primary and secondary school in all 33 boroughs. By 2017, the programme had reached over 2,100 schools and worked with over 400,000 young people.

This approach established the GLA as a pioneering, large-scale youth social action programme. As part of this, the GLA became a founding partner in the national #iwill Campaign which aimed to increase the number of young people engaged in social action by 50% (to 60%) by 2020. The TLYA programme was also recognised in the inaugural DfE Character Awards in 2016 as the Regional Award winner for Greater London, highlighting TLYA as an example of best practice in the sector.

Outputs: 2013-17

In the first phase of the programme, TLYA aimed to:

• Engage a minimum of 2,500 schools;
• Reach 312,500 young people;
• Recognise the work of young people and schools through Team London Awards;
• Award 24 small grants of £1,000 directly to schools.

Objective: A targeted offer while maintaining universal reach

Between 2018-20, TLYA sought to maintain the reach from Phase One, while deepening our work in certain categories to engage young people less likely to take part in social action and those at risk of exclusion.
As a result, this phase included a target approach focusing on deprived Lower Super Output Areas (LSOAs), Alternative Provision and SEND / Special schools and the proportion of young people categorised as ‘hard-to-reach’ and in receipt of Free School Meals (FSM).

Outputs: 2018-20

Team London Young Ambassadors aimed to:

• Engage 39,000 young people;
• Create 2,100 youth social action projects;
• Offer 110 teachers informal YSA training;
• Work with over 100 alternative education providers including SEND schools and PRUs;
• Recognise the work of young people and schools through the Mayor of London Volunteering Awards;
• Offer 45 small grants of £1,000 directly to schools.

The current phase of TLYA was divided into three streams of activity to better target young people most at-risk of exclusion, and to embed youth social action in primary and secondary schools across London

1. Stream One: an enhanced programme of support targeting Alternative Provision (AP), Pupil Referral Units (PRU) and Special Educational Need and Disability (SEND) Schools;
2. Stream Two: a universal school-based social action programme particularly targeting primary schools serving in areas of higher deprivation; and
3. Stream Three: a programme of teacher training and sector support to help schools to embed high-quality youth social action into school life.

Outputs: 2021-22

Stream One: Enhanced Programme

• Direct support for 42 PRUs, Alternative Provision, and SEND schools;
• 500 young people engaged in social action;
• 42 meaningful, high-quality social action projects ;
• 42 small grants awarded to participating schools or institutions.

Stream Two: Universal Offer

• Direct support for at least 200 schools, including up to 75% in areas of higher deprivation;
• 6,150 young people engaged in social action
• At least 200 social action projects;
• 10 projects developed through the awarding of small grants;
• 6 Youth Summits delivered;
• 8 Youth Advisory Board meetings.

Stream Three: Teacher Training and Sector Support

• Up to 540 teachers supported with social action training;
• A regular programme of training and network events delivered;
• Indirect impact on 8,100 young people as a result of teacher training.

The Team London Young Ambassadors programme works with schools across London using a number of activities:

Issue Exploration + Action Planning Workshops
One of the most common interactions is through school visits. The programme teams delivers workshops in school, motivating students to use their voice and creating action plans around topics they care about.

Youth Summits
The GLA host themed Youth Summits at City Hall 2-3 times per year. These events bring together young people from schools across London to explore an issue with expert panellists and to produce considered action plans. In Phase Two of the programme we have run summits aorund the themes of gender equality, serious youth violence and the environment.

Resources
We provide teachers and young people with our Team London Social Action Toolkit for Schools. This resource contains issue cards to help stimulate discussions around the Mayor’s priorities, as well as how-to guides for teachers and students to help them to set-up social action projects.

Recognition
Using the recognition of City Hall and the Mayor of London, we are able to offer young people recognition for their social action projects. This includes: Team London Awards, media and promotion, signed certificates for schools, letters from the Mayor and/or Deputy Mayor and reward trips.

Small Grants for Schools
Schools that have engaged with the programme previously are invited to apply and pitch for our annual Small Grants where we are able to award up to £1,000 for young people to amplify or create a social action project at their school.