Cheshire West and Chester Council has transformed its traditional youth funding approach by introducing a young people-led grant model over the past two years. Previously, funding was repeatedly awarded to the same organisations with limited innovation or strategic alignment. A £55,000 fund was redesigned to prioritise grassroots initiatives, embed youth voice, and ensure sustainability. Young people were given 51 per cent of voting rights in funding decisions, supported by structured youth voice systems and training in decision-making.
Key activity
- Redesigned the youth funding process to focus on innovation, strategic priorities, and grassroots projects.
- Established a young people-led decision-making model, giving them majority (51 per cent) voting power.
- Used existing youth voice structures (local groups, youth council, Members of Youth Parliament), including parallel engagement for neurodiverse young people to engage their peers.
- Delivered training on “defensible decision-making” for young people, using the Lundy model of participation and working alongside the commissioning and democratic team. There was also work with the corporate support council functions to explore how to support young people to participate, through making local places youth-friendly and ensuring on times work for young people.
- Young people then also monitor the programmes by undertaking visits and mystery shopping services.
- In year 2, the programme developed and introduced sustainability requirements and capped funding at £5,000 per project to widen reach. There were also added criteria around youth involvement in applications and encouraged collaboration between applicants.
- The council used digital platforms (e.g. Instagram) to promote funded projects and share impact stories which were worked with the young people alongside more traditional web and local press avenues of communication to publicise the good news.
Lessons learned
- Trust in young people is essential: Decision-making may differ from adult expectations which can be hard for the “professionals” to understand, but it ensures that the approach reflects genuine local and young people’s needs.
- Innovation requires courage: Shifting control to young people can feel risky when it is a new approach but leads to meaningful change.
- Representation must be intentional: Ongoing effort is needed to ensure youth voice structures reflect the full diversity of the community. Conscious effort was delivered by the council to ensure the youth voice representatives were reflective of the local community.
- Clear and accessible communication is critical: Processes must be understandable and inclusive to encourage participation.
- Strong internal support enables success: Collaboration with commissioners, democratic services, and communications teams is key to ensure that young people are properly respected as part of the process and enabled to participate.
- Engagement improves outcomes: Involving young people in visits and monitoring leads to more honest feedback and stronger relationships.
Outcomes
- Successfully distributed the full £55,000 funding pot across three rounds.
- Increased demand and engagement, with £495,000 worth of applications received in Year 2.
- Improved quality of applications, including stronger focus on sustainability and youth involvement.
- Positive feedback and strong evaluation findings, highlighting the value of a youth-led approach.
- Expanded reach and visibility through digital promotion and storytelling.
- Identified and addressed gaps in participation (e.g.rural engagement).
- Developed plans for additional funding streams, including small, accessible micro-grants for grassroots groups without arduous application processes.
Key contact
Matthew Pilling
Senior Manager – Young People
Early Help and Prevention
Cheshire West and Chester Council
Email: [email protected]