£450,000 Youth Empowerment Fund relaunched to support young people and build safer communities

Merseyside’s Youth Empowerment Scheme (YES) is back for its second year, offering a major funding boost to help protect young people and prevent serious violence across the region.

Launched today (Friday 9 May), the £450,000 fund is led by Merseyside’s Police and Crime Commissioner Emily Spurrell in partnership with the Merseyside Violence Reduction Partnership (MVRP). The scheme aims to support grassroots projects that offer safe, engaging and positive opportunities for young people, particularly those in areas most affected by violence and cuts to youth services.

In its first year, the YES Fund helped nearly 12,000 young people across Merseyside by supporting a wide range of initiatives — from sports coaching and forest schools to music sessions and mental health programmes. These projects not only helped to build confidence and skills but also provided vital diversionary activities during school holidays and high-risk periods.

Now, community groups, charities and third sector organisations are invited to apply for grants between £5,000 and £25,000 to deliver projects focused on arts, culture, sport — and for the first time — digital skills. This includes education around online safety, misinformation and protecting young people in virtual spaces.

Merseyside’s Police Commissioner Emily Spurrell said:

“From graffiti and art classes to music sessions and DJing, capoeira, sports sessions and forest schools, last year our YES projects offered an amazing array of activities and opportunities for young people across our region, all focused on keeping them safe and preventing them from getting drawn into dangerous or harmful behaviour.

“We’re determined to build on the success of the first year of our Youth Empowerment Scheme by reaching even more young people and offering them opportunities which help to unlock their potential and put them on the right life path.

“Investing in prevention and early intervention is essential if we are to reduce serious violence in our communities. We know this works. Serious violence is falling and by working with our brilliant community and third sector organisations we can continue to build safer. brighter futures for young people on Merseyside.

“I can’t wait to see what opportunities we can provide to support and inspire our young people over the year ahead.”

Director of the MVRP, Superintendent Georgie Garvey added:

“The MVRP has supported a staggering 145,619 young people since we started work in 2020. The feedback from the young people involved with last year’s YES projects, as well as the organisations which ran them, is incredibly inspiring and encouraging. Even some of the smallest grants were used to run projects which made a massive difference in the lives of the young people they reached.

“By announcing the second year of our hugely successful YES fund we are determined to build on this work, giving even more young people positive opportunities and addressing the root causes which may cause them to make poor life choices.

“Poverty, inequality, and a lack of opportunities can all play a big part. Working with our fantastic grassroot organisations across our region, we are focused on investing in and protecting our young people and providing opportunities which significantly reduce their chance of ever becoming involved in violence.

“We firmly believe that violence is preventable, not inevitable and through the YES fund, we are focused on delivering targeted projects which help young people to make positive choices for the future.”

Applications are now open and must be submitted by Friday 6 June 2025 via the Community Foundation for Merseyside (CfM), which will once again administer the fund. Interested groups are encouraged to attend an information session at Prescot Community Fire and Police Station on Thursday 23 May at 10am to find out more.

Programmes Manager at CfM, James Proctor said:

“The YES Fund is a fantastic funding opportunity to support our local grassroots community organisations and their engagement work with young people.

“It is so important to recognise and support the valuable community projects delivered throughout the year, including key periods such as the summer school holidays and Autumn half-term period, which allow young people to get involved in sporting, cultural, digital, educational and crucially, fun activities which keeps them safe and helps to both reduce and prevent violence and anti-social behaviour.”

Apply to the Youth Empowerment Scheme here.

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