Manchester City Council will shortly be launching further opportunities for voluntary, community and faith organisations to put themselves forward as potential deliverers of high quality targeted provision for children and young people in Manchester.
The funding for both play and youth is to be aligned to ensure that there are appropriate, sufficient and equitable spread of provision for 5-19 year olds across the city – decisions will be based on evidenced based need and will be set within a context of tight budget constraints. Although the two funding steams will be aligned, they will remain separate entities with specific expectations in each case.
Alongside the commissioning of Youth and Play provision, a small grants process to fund Easter and Summer play schemes will be retained.
To allow for the process to be undertaken in a timely and effective manner, the current commissions will be extended until 30 June 2013. The new commissions will run for a period of 21 months from 1 July 2013 until 31 March 2015 – commitment for the period 1 April 2014 to 31 March 2015 will be subject to confirmation of available funds.
The commissioning process is being led by the Valuing Young People Board (Chaired by Cllr Rosa Battle) with the decision making powers of this group being supported by locally based partnership panels, the local element will reflect the City Council’s five Strategic Regeneration Framework (SRF) areas.
The purpose of the Youth Fund is to ensure that vulnerable young people aged 13-19 (up to age 24 for specific groups) from the City of Manchester who are furthest away from the labour market have access to positive targeted activities which are appropriate to meet their needs and which will allow them to flourish in a safe environment. Through the delivery of local projects, which will provide a variety of programmes including recreational activities, informal learning and self development, the aim is to support young people in reducing their dependency and so help them move closer to economic independence.
The purpose of the Play Fund is to provide access for children aged 5-14 to positive play activities, targeting areas of highest need where child poverty and deprivation is greatest and engaging with the most vulnerable children who are most at risk of exclusion; to increase the quality of play in Manchester through participation in recognised quality assurance standards and to increase local community involvement in the design and delivery of play provision. Proposals for a range of provision will be invited, including outdoor play, park based activities and weekend and after-school provision. There will also be an opportunity for providers to propose innovative new projects.
If you have any questions you can contact:
Michael Salmon, on 0161 234 4557, or email: [email protected]
Martin Bell, on 0161 234 1485, or email: [email protected]
Ruth Denton, on 0790 821 1601, or email: [email protected]
Julie Wilkes, on 0161 234 1332, or email: [email protected]
To read the full letter see attachment