‘Grant To Give Back’ – young apprentices are ready to award £4000 funding

Young apprentices who are part of the Fermanagh Trust’s ‘Grant Maker Apprentice Programme’ are inviting local organisations to apply for funding.

With over 20 years experience in managing various funds, the Fermanagh Trust is now handing over the reins to young people in order to develop leadership, build capacity among the young grant makers and create opportunities for local groups to receive funding and engage in community action.

Starting at the end of the last year, the Fermanagh Trust has been mentoring the apprentices and sharing with them a wide variety of skills and experience. The pilot youth led initiative sees young people becoming grant makers, having active involvement in the planning, awarding money to local projects and addressing what they believe are the key needs for Fermanagh’s young people. Who better to fund the needs for young people, than young people themselves.

 

Fermanagh Trust have been mentoring the young apprentices

With £4000 from the Fermanagh Trust to give out, the young grant makers have formed the ‘Grant To Give Back’ fund. The process involves identifying priorities, creating application procedures and criteria, undertake publicity work, and ultimately decide where the funding should go.

At weekly Zoom meetings the young apprentices have worked with others to gain the knowledge and tools required for identifying issues or concerns in their community, researching, negotiating priorities and working as a team to make a positive and meaningful contribution. They are hoping to award funding to projects which focus on their key priority areas:
• young people’s mental health,
• local poverty 
• anti-social behaviour

New and existing groups can apply. If you have an idea for a project and need some help with funding do get in touch with the grant makers and together you can help to, in some way, alleviate these key concerns – young people’s mental health, local poverty and anti-social behaviour.

‘Grant to Give Back’ is currently open for applications.

To download an application form CLICK HERE
To download grant guidelines CLICK HERE

Closing date for applications is 19th March 2021.
To get in touch with the team, email grant2giveback@gmail.com or call them on 02866320230.

Sonya Johnston, Fermanagh Trust Programme Manager says ‘It’s been a real privilege to work with such a determined and passionate group of young people who wish to make a meaningful difference in the Community. Despite the challenges of COVID they have worked hard to develop a Fund which I have no doubt will make a difference at a local level in Fermanagh. We hope these young people can use the knowledge and skills they have developed through their participation in the programme to be our next generation of Community Leaders”.

 

 

The Grant Maker Apprentice Programme is part of a wider £500,000 investment from The National Lottery Community Fund into a major project to identify and develop leaders, to help secure a positive future for the voluntary, community and social enterprise (VCSE) sector in Northern Ireland.

Fermanagh Trust in partnership with Holywell Trust in Derry/Londonderry and the Rural Community Network a regional support organisation that is based in Cookstown, is delivering ‘Community Leadership in the West,’ an ambitious five-year project which includes new and specific qualifications that support the next generation of leaders, to build their capacity to respond and react confidently to the challenges they face and give them the skills they need to make sure community voices are heard when working with statutory organisations.