“I’ve learnt resilience and determination when things are hard, good listening skills and being able to effectively work in a team” 

Our Young Grant-Makers just completed their 7-month grant-making process, and have decided to fund seven Islington groups creating more positive spaces for young people. This year’s programme was particularly challenging as this group of young people had to go into lockdown shortly after the programme started in March, and had to meet and make important funding decisions mainly through a screen – not always with reliable internet connection. Despite the circumstances, the group managed to come together online every Tuesday and work through a whole grant-making cycle from shaping a call, to assessing applications, to making final funding decisions about youth activities and support in their local area.

Before saying goodbye, we had a (Zoom) chat with Freya, Sayra and Sammy, three of our Young Grant-Makers, who were kind enough to reflect on this year’s experience with us. Watch below:

A little bit more about the Young Grant-Makers

The Young Grant-Makers is a programme in which a group of young people aged 17-24 from Islington come together to make funding decisions to support charities working with young people in the local area. If you want to learn more about the Young Grant-Makers Programme, make sure to read Young Grant-Makers: Learning from the pilot.