£200,000 invested to help young people unlock their potential through Arts | Culture | Sport activities

Music making, drama workshops, boxing, yoga, and knife crime interventions are just some of the activities set to be delivered by the 18 charities, organisations and community groups who will benefit from a share of more than £200,000 from the Fund. 

After inviting bids for the fund earlier this year, the Merseyside Violence Reduction Partnership (MVRP) have today confirmed the brilliant grassroots projects which have been awarded the funding to deliver initiatives focused on engaging and supporting young people, with funding focused on the areas of Merseyside which have seen the highest levels of violence and the biggest cuts to youth services.

As well as offering access to new opportunities, the Arts | Culture | Sport Fund is focused on helping young people to build their confidence, develop leadership skills and make positive decisions for the future, all helping to unlock the potential of young people across the region.

A wide-ranging and diverse selection of activities are being offered by the successful applicants including Future Yard CIC in Wirral which will engage with hundreds of young people through live music, offering some work experience places in sound checking.

Autism in Motion in Fazakerley is providing Special Educational Needs activities to 11–25-year-olds, including abseiling, kayaking, yoga, and drama sessions whilst educating on exploitation, how to avoid it and what to do if it happens to them.

Community By Nature in Bootle is using a forest school-themed experience as early intervention to educate children on the consequences of knife crime and teaching them how to safely use tools in a controlled environment.

As well as helping to steer young people away from trouble, parents are also being offered support with Beautiful New Beginnings in West Derby providing anger management support to mums and dads as well as 1-2-1 counselling sessions for children.

In Knowsley, Shakespeare North Trust will receive £12,705 to work with young people to redesign the Theatre’s piazza through engaging discussion and workshops, whilst in St Helens Hip Hop CIC will deliver crime awareness workshops to year six and secondary school pupils.

Last year, more than 8,500 young people benefitted from activities and projects run by 20 grassroots organisations funded by the MVRP, resulting in some gaining qualifications in mental health awareness and first aid, as well as learning digital skills and taking part in street art sessions and sports camps.    

“I’m delighted to announce the next round of successful bids for our Arts | Culture | Sport Fund. We know how important it is to give our young people the chance to try new experiences and gain skills and qualifications that can set them on a positive path and help to build brighter futures. 

“Engaging young people with great, fun activities is vital if we want to help them reach their full potential and prevent them getting involved in activities which could lead to trouble, or harm to themselves or others.

“Sadly, we have seen the devastating impact that austerity and the cost-of-living increase has had on families in our region. Those pressures, coupled with the desperate underfunding of local councils and youth services have seen opportunities for our young people decrease significantly in recent years.

“By investing in young people, our Arts | Culture | Sport Fund is entirely focused on reversing that trend by giving them the chance to access brilliant activities, projects and training opportunities that benefit them mentally, physically, and culturally and helping them make better choices for the future.

“From work experience placements to sporting sessions, drama classes, one to one mentoring and vital education work to tackle key issues including knife crime, exploitation and domestic abuse, these 18 projects have all been chosen because they will support and inspire our young people to achieve more, and I’m really excited to see how each of them progress over the coming months.”

Merseyside’s Police Commissioner Emily Spurrell

“By providing funding to these fantastic grassroots organisations, our goal is to enable them to provide unique opportunities that support our young people, building their skillsets, increasing their confidence as well as their physical and mental health and creating a positive legacy.

“We had some wonderful applications that made the process of choosing these successful bidders all the more difficult, but we are delighted and really proud of the diverse range of initiatives that will be available to our young people through this funding. From hip hop workshops to yoga to football tournaments to residential retreats, we have a plethora of inspiring activities for young people to enjoy.” 

Superintendent Georgina Garvey, Temporary Director for the Merseyside Violence Reduction

“We are proud to continue our work with the Merseyside Violence Reduction Partnership to deliver this funding to support a range of local community projects making a positive difference to young people’s lives.

“The Funding awarded will help charitable groups in many different parts of Merseyside to deliver targeted projects using the positive impact of arts, culture and sporting activities to help both prevent and protect young people from experiencing violence”.

James Proctor, Programmes Manager at the Community Foundation for Merseyside said

Successful projects

Knowsley

• Cells Project CIC – £9,560 to continue award winning project KidsKast where children interview people who have succeeded and struggled in life, exploring important topics.
• Knowsley Vale Amateur Boxing Club – £10,532 to deliver boxing and mental heath support to young people aged 13-17 for 40 weeks.
• Shakespeare North Trust – £12,705 to work with young people to redesign the piazza through discussion and workshops.

Liverpool

• Autism in Motion – £12,060 to provide age-appropriate SEN activities to 11–25-year-olds including abseiling, kayaking, boxing, yoga, dance, and drama plus education on different types of exploitation and what to do if it happens to them.
• Beautiful New Beginnings – £15,000 to provide anger management support to parents and 1-2-1 counselling for children. Activities also include yoga and paddle boarding.
• Capoeira For All CIC – £14,870 to provide workshops for 11–17-year-olds based around sport, art and culture with a hackathon brainstorming event to develop ideas and solve problems.
• Toxteth El8te – £8,897 to provide fitness sessions targeted to specific age groups, preventing ASB and developing positive relationships.
• Unity Community Association – £5,838 to deliver a 12-week project using art and sport to tackle the topic of domestic violence with young people.

Sefton

• The Inclusive Hub CIC – £14,600 to work with a cohort of 16–20-year-olds to discourage anti-social behaviour.
• Community By Nature – £14,600 providing a forest school themed experience as early intervention for children regarding knife crime. Also, education on safety and the use of tools in a safe and controlled environment and family fun days and a rural residential trip.
• North Mersey ABC Sporting Club – £6,210 to provide 7 boxing sessions a week.

St Helens

• People Empowered CIC – £14,790 to work with 350 10-25-year-olds delivering targeted diversionary activities, building relationships through 1-2-1 mentoring and support.
• Hip Hop CIC – £4,790 to deliver crime awareness hip hop workshops to year 6 and secondary school pupils.
• Maximum Edge CIC – £14,980 to provide workshops, 1-2-1 coaching and outreach to 130 children and adults aged 13-25 with additional support for families.

Wirral

• Future Yard CIC – £14,996 to engage with young people through live music and music making activities. A limited number of work experience places available through sound checking.
• Utopia Project CIC – £14,455 to provide activities and support to neurodivergent individuals at risk of becoming involved in criminality or being harmed including 1-2-1 therapy through arts and sports.
• Tranmere Rovers in the Community – £15,000 offering leisure activities including football tournaments to improve mental and physical health.
• Open Door Charity – £14,267 for weekly targeted diversionary activities for hard-to-reach young people.