Young people hand out funding for Yorkash youth projects (York Liberal Democrats)

York Liberal Democrats <info@yorklibdems.org.uk>

Young people hand out funding for Yorkash youth projects

November 13, 2008 12:00 AM

Tomorrow evening, Friday 14th November, City of York Council's Yorkash Panel will be hosting the Yorkash Awards Ceremony. The whole evening is organised and run by the young people themselves and representatives of all the organisations who have been awarded Yorkash funds will turn up to receive their cheques.

Yorkash funds activities and services run by groups around the city, for young people aged 13-19. Applications for the awards needed to have the involvement of young people, and were assessed by the Yorkash Panel, made up of young people from across the city, who decide where the £145,000 should be allocated.

This year, the Yorkash Panel decided that bigger projects would be funded through larger sums of money than in previous years, so bids were made between £5k and £30k. 11 groups will receive funding for their projects, ranging from education projects on disability awareness and use of drugs; peer support for care leavers; boxing coaching; purchasing motorbikes and sports equipment; to redeveloping the children and young people's room at York Hospital.

Cllr Nigel Ayre, Liberal Democrat Member of the Young People's Working Group, will be attending the event for the first time and is looking forward to it.

He said: "I'm sure it will be a great event. Yorkash has been growing since we first introduced it 5 years ago, allowing many young people to take part in making applications and decisions about what youth services are provided in York. It is really important that the applications are decided by young people themselves, because this ensures that the money is used to fund activities that are appealing to the very people they want to attract."

Cllr Runciman, Liberal Democrat Executive Member for Children and Young People's Services, said: "The Yorkash presentation is always a very exciting event and those who attend are delighted to receive the funding they have been awarded. Tribute needs to be paid to the young people who do such a good job in organising the evening, and I congratulate them on all their hard work."