Investing in Strategic Leadership & Sector Coordination
In 2020, Young Manchester commissioned a number of sector-led infrastructure programmes via the Youth & Play Fund.
The investment sought to drive quality in particular areas of the city's youth and play provision, sharing our goal of building a stronger and more resilient VSCE sector in Manchester.
This specific pot, where organisations could apply for up to £40,000, aimed to champion quality provision and to support investment in infrastructure initiatives that strengthen our sector for the benefit of children and young people.
The supported projects worked closely alongside Manchester City Council, additional stakeholders, and ourselves to provide training, capacity building and infrastructure support to the whole of the city.
Some of the types of activities we funded include:
- the development and delivery of training programmes and initiatives
- hosting a programme of regular strategic networking opportunities
- development of tools and resources (where there were clear needs or gaps for this activity)
Proposals to this pot were chosen because they addressed one of the following:
- Quality, standards and outcomes measurement – working closely with the sector to drive forward our capacity to provide quality services including workforce development
- Play – providing a strategic approach to elevating the status of play in the city
- Safeguarding – providing sector specific tools and resources to help youth and play providers to safeguard children and young people
- Detached youth work – providing a strategic approach to building the capacity of the sector to deliver high quality detached youth work
- Strengthening provision in the arts – working closely with those organisations already funded to take a strategic approach to cross sector collaboration. Both helping to improve and enhance the creative practice of youth and play providers as well as unlocking the potential of arts, culture and heritage organisations to deliver for children and young people
Funded proposals were chosen based on their ability to address both how their offer reaches across the city, and also the specific plans the organisation has to enhance or enrich place-based provision for the benefit of children and young people.
Proposals to this fund did not include direct delivery to children and young people.
