Youth Sector Development Fund

In 2009 Coventry and Warwickshire YMCA was awarded a large funding investment from the Youth Sector Development Fund (YSDF). Over £1.9 million was awarded in order to help the YMCA expand its services, recruit new staff and reach more young people in the Coventry and Warwickshire area. The funding is aimed a organisations that work to prevent young people becoming involved in gangs, crime or anti-social behaviour. While the YMCA already provides excellent services in this area, this funding will allow those facilities to develop and expand the ranges available.

The funding gained from the YSDF will be used to meet the needs of three different groups of young people.

The first will be to engaging with young people involved in gangs, anti-social behaviour and informally teenage pregnancy. This will be done through outreach work.

The second group will include work in schools through the “Lost the Plot” projects aimed at young people between 14 and 18.

The third will be through working in prisons to support the rehabilitation and to prevent the reoffending of young people.

This funding has created several new roles and has allowed Coventry and Warwickshire YMCA to expand on the range of services available to young people.

In the second round of tendering for YSDF funding awards the YMCA was one of only 13 youth organisations and charities around the UK to have secured this valuable funding and of these it was the only one based in the West Midlands. With this funding Coventry and Warwickshire YMCA will be able to deliver new and better service to the young people around the region.

The bidding process was highly competitive, involving 76 different organisations from around the UK who all submitted proposals to the YSDF managing body and DCFS officials. The funding from YSDF is targeted at organisations who work to prevent young people committing crime or becoming involved in anti-social behaviour, gun or gang crime. In Coventry and Warwickshire the YMCA is highly involved in maintaining close links to young people in the community, and working closely with them to promote positive activities through its youth and community projects around the city. The new YSDF funding will compliment the existing and highly successful projects and services set up around Coventry and Warwickshire that have had a significant impact and provided positive changes in the lives of young people.

In addition, there are other major projects for both supported housing and youth and community work lined up for the future to enable Coventry and Warwickshire YMCA increase their presence in communities throughout the region. New staff will also joining the organisation in order to properly support the expanded range services that the YMCA provides.

With new funding becoming available from a variety of sources in the near future, Coventry and Warwickshire YMCA are always on the lookout for new partner organisations that share the same goals and wish to enter a mutually beneficial arrangement together. Coventry and Warwickshire YMCA is committed to helping young people achieve their full potential in life.