Young people’s experiences to be the focus of new ‘Youth-Led Peer Researcher Network’, thanks to National Lottery funding

Up to 60 young people across England are set to lead and conduct research into the experiences and priorities of young people across their region, to inform funders, delivery organisations and youth organisations on where to focus youth funding, thanks to money from The National Lottery Community Fund.

The National Lottery Community Fund, the largest funder of community activity in the UK, is investing £150,000 into the Youth-Led Peer Researcher Network, working alongside The Young Foundation, a not-for-profit that conducts research and works with UK communities to address inequalities. The project will engage a network of young people, supporting them to undertake research and highlight their priorities for the region going forward.

The Young Foundation, which has been contracted to run the research from September to January, will recruit 10 young people in each region from a range of backgrounds and experiences reflective of the young people living there. The team of young people will receive tailored training to help them lead and conduct research into the experiences and priorities of young people across their region. The young people will co-design the research alongside The Young Foundation and will speak to 300 young people to look at the key themes and narratives emerging. This will ensure young people’s voices are heard and that their experiences are documented- ensuring young people’s needs are represented in the final findings.

Once the research is completed in January, the young people will deliver the presentation of their research findings to The National Lottery Community Fund, which will then be shared more widely in the spring so that funders, delivery organisations and youth organisations across the regions can embed this thinking into their work and future decisions.

The National Lottery Community Fund is committed to Youth Voice and supporting young people to prosper and thrive. In the last three years, The National Lottery Community Fund has invested £861 million into projects for children and young people- making it the biggest non-statutory funder of young people in the UK.

Through the #iwill Fund, (a £54 million joint investment between The National Lottery Community Fund and the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport); and through The National Lottery Community Fund’s Young People in the Lead work, embedding youth social action and young people’s voices into the heart of funding decisions has been a priority for The National Lottery Community Fund. This piece of research will enable the funder to understand the themes and priorities and to share learnings more widely across the sector.

Helen Whyman, Head of the #iwill Fund at The National Lottery Community Fund, said: “We’re really excited to be funding this project and for the young people to co-design this network alongside The Young Foundation, placing them at the heart of the research from the very start.

“Thanks to National Lottery players, we are able to hear from young people directly, and unlock opportunities through helping young people and organisations that support them to navigate funding opportunities going forward. The aim is that this research will help bring the sector a step closer to better understanding and meeting the needs of young people across England.”

Helen Goulden, CEO at The Young Foundation, said: “This is an opportunity from a very large and influential funder to help centre youth voice at the heart of its future thinking and strategy. We’re excited to be a part of it and further expand on the work we do with our Peer Research Network. Peer research is an integral part of understanding lived experience and we can’t wait to see the impact this work will have in building a fairer future for young people.”

The National Lottery Community Fund distributes money raised by National Lottery players for good causes. National Lottery players raise £36 million each week for good causes throughout the UK**. Thanks to National Lottery players, last year we awarded over half a billion pounds (£588.2 million) of life-changing funding to communities across the UK. Over eight in ten (83%) of our grants are for under £10,000 – going to grassroots groups and charities across the UK that are bringing to life amazing ideas that matter to their communities.

To find out more visit www.TNLCommunityFund.org.uk

Date published: 29 September, 2021
Region: England (London)

Notes to Editors

*Based on 1 April 2020 to 31 March 2021.

About us

We are the largest funder of community activity in the UK – we’re proud to award money raised by National Lottery players to communities across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. National Lottery players raise £36 million each week for good causes throughout the UK. Since The National Lottery began in 1994, £43 billion has been raised for good causes which has supported over 635,000 projects, benefiting millions of people - that’s 255 projects per postcode area.

We are passionate about funding great ideas that matter to communities and make a difference to people’s lives. At the heart of everything we do is the belief that when people are in the lead, communities thrive. Thanks to the support of National Lottery players, our funding is open to everyone. We’re privileged to be able to work with the smallest of local groups right up to UK-wide charities, enabling people and communities to bring their ambitions to life.

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About The Young Foundation:

The Young Foundation’s mission is to develop better connected and stronger communities across the UK. We research in and with communities to increase understanding of community life today. We offer different methods and approaches to involve communities and grow their capacity to own and lead change. We provide tools and resources to support innovation to tackle the issues people and communities care about. We’re a UKRI accredited research organisation, social investor and community practitioner.