The Million Hours Fund - funding for projects for young people

The funding is for projects that give young people (aged 11 to 18 years; up to 25 years with disabilities and special educational needs) somewhere safe to go, something engaging to do and someone trusted to talk to during the summer holidays.

The funding will support additional youth workers, volunteers, venue hire, activity resources as well as youth workers’ engagement with young people in the areas they already spend time in, such as parks and leisure facilities. The aim is to reach those young people ‘who are particularly at risk of falling onto the wrong path’.

The programme is currently accepting applications and will close on Monday 14 August 2023 at 12noon.

To be eligible for funding, projects must:

• Take place in, and/or benefit young people living in, one of the eligible wards in England. Eligible wards have been determined by allocating wards to each Police Force Area (PFA) based on youth population, and then selecting those with the highest reported number of antisocial behaviour incidents from within the PFA.
• Deliver additional youth provision (existing provision is not eligible).
• Start during, or before, the 2023 school summer holidays (24 July to 3 September 2023).
• Primarily benefit young people aged 11 to 18, and up to 25 years for young people with special educational needs and disabilities.

Who can apply

To be eligible, applicants must meet the National Lottery Community Fund's Award for All England criteria.

Applications are accepted from:

• Constituted voluntary and community organisations.
• Constituted groups and clubs.
• Registered charities.
• Charitable incorporated organisations (CIOs).
• Not-for-profit companies.
• Community interest companies (CICs).
• Schools (for projects that benefit and involve the communities around the school).
• Statutory bodies (including local authorities, town, parish and community council).
• Community benefit societies.

To be eligible, applicants must have:

• Two unconnected people on the board or committee.
• A UK bank account in the name of their organisation.
• Annual accounts (unless the organisation is less than 15 months old).

Grant amount

There is a total funding pot of £11 million:

• £3 million for the first tranche of funding.
• £8 million for the Autumn 2023 round.

Currently, grants of between £300 and £10,000 for up to one year are available.

Application process

To be eligible, applicants must meet the National Lottery Community Fund's Award for All England criteria.

Applicants should read the Awards for All Guidelines which can be found on the National Lottery Community Fund website

To apply, groups will need to create an account with TNLCF if they have not already done so.

Contact information

Email: general.enquiries@tnlcommunityfund.org.uk
Website: The Million Hours Fund website