CashBack for Communities Youth Work Fund Annual Report 2020 / 21
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Our year 2020 / 21
This is the story of our year as we , and funded organisations , attempted to navigate the pandemic , related restrictions and the impact on youth work organisations and young people .
This year , we delivered the annual CashBack for Communities Youth Work Fund and the new three year fund which supports partners from seven priority areas to work more intensively with young people involved in or at risk of involvement in crime or anti-social behaviour over a three year period with guaranteed funding .
Overview
20 th March 2020 all applications to the fund submitted
23 rd March UK lockdown begins
6 th April - 21 st May 36 local authority assessment panels take place
£ 676,860.68 awarded to 159 organisations ( one year fund )
£ 95,960 awarded to seven organisations ( three-year fund )
Navigating Lockdown
Challenge number one :
Applications to the fund were made without any knowledge of the year that was ahead . Proposed activity was not planned in the context of COVID-19 restrictions or the impact that this would have on young people .
Our response :
We agreed with Inspiring Scotland and Scottish Government that the fund should go ahead . The fund offers small awards to established youth work organisations and a key benefits of the fund is the impact that these organisations achieve with small amounts of money .
From the knowledge that we had at this point , it seemed reasonable to assume that these organisations would be well placed to adapt to the challenges of delivery ( at this point we had no idea how long lockdown would last ) and to respond to the impact that lockdown might have on young people .
Outcome :
This flexible response from Scottish Government , Inspiring Scotland and YouthLink Scotland meant that £ 772,820 of funding was in place to help the youth work sector to support vulnerable young people during and post- lockdown .