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Divisional Young People's Forum - Vale

Oliver gives the inside story on what it's like assessing funding bids from youth projects

What has your group been created for?

The government gives us money through the year - well over half a million a year. There are 5 groups City, West, South, West and Vale plus one for the whole County. We get into a group and we get bids from different organizations around Oxfordshire like someone wants to set up a youth club. They send us a bid and we decide whether it is worth funding and we work out if they need the project that they have asked for. We also work out if they have raised some of the money themselves. If they have done those things then we pay the money out.

How has it made a difference?

It gives Young People the opportunity to speak out. I think it makes a BIG DIFFERENCE because without us they probably wouldn’t get started with the thing they want to do.

I’d say it makes us feel better ourselves as we are giving money out to help someone else.

Now that I’ve been involved in the forum it’s got me involved in things outside the forum.

What do you do in your group?

We meet up at the Youth Centre – we need a big space to meet up. We go for a couple of hours after school or college and we have food provided.

It’s the same group going so there’s a good atmosphere around – we know one another.  We can have a laugh but there’s lots of reading and we need to concentrate.

If there’s a few bids we split up into small groups, we have a reader so we can listen to the bid and a writer to write down our decisions on the money given.

How do you make sure that every child or young person is heard?

We take it into turns and go round and have a say about the bid, that way everyone gets their chance.

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