Woodcraft Folk Awarded Million-pound Grant

The Woodcraft Folk has been awarded a grant of £1.26 million to give more than 8,000 young people the opportunity to make their voices heard on issues that concern them both locally and nationally.

The five-year grant from the Big Lottery Fund will fund the TREE (Training, Representation, Equality and Engagement) project, which has been developed by young Woodcraft Folk members and will be led by them, in partnership with the National Youth Agency, the Co-operative College and the National Deaf Children’s Society.

The project aims to actively engage young people aged 10-18 in decision-making and the development of services, policy and practice, and to give them the skills they need for campaigning and communication. They in turn will train and support their peers, encouraging more and more young people to participate and make a difference.

"I think it's brilliant that we now have what we need to empower young people to fulfill their ideas and plans,” said Liam Hardy, 18, one of those who was involved in the original consultation on the project. “I can't wait to get more involved."

The Woodcraft Folk is a volunteer-led organisation for children and young people with some 450 groups across the UK.

TREE will allow 8,600 young people to have fun, develop skills and confidence and take action on their concerns and issues through engagement with Woodcraft Folk groups. Young people with disabilities will have more social opportunities to interact with their peers through increased understanding and better access to Woodcraft Folk activities.

Some 2,000 young people will receive training and opportunities for accreditation as campaigners, young trainers, mentors and other volunteering roles, and 130 will develop communication, committee and project-management skills as they become active in the democratic and decision-making structures of the Woodcraft Folk on a regional and national level.

Among the aims of the project is to increase the number of Woodcraft Folk groups for teenagers, to recruit new volunteers and to enable young people to take action on local issues, with projects they themselves will lead.

It also aims to allow others to replicate the Woodcraft Folk’s good practice, by collecting its participation experience and sharing it among 230 external organisations.

“We are really pleased to have this opportunity to engage so many young people in projects designed and chosen by their peers,” said Debs McCahon, Woodcraft Folk’s Membership Development Manager. “It really is a fantastic opportunity to give young people new experiences and skills, whilst making a real difference to Woodcraft Folk groups and the wider community.”

The project will adapt and adopt the National Youth Agency’s Hear By Right standards framework for use in Woodcraft Folk groups.

“The NYA Participation team is delighted to be joining the Woodcraft Folk on this exciting leg of their participation journey, inspired and driven as it is by young people themselves,” said Bill Badham, NYA’s National Participation Programme Manager.

“We are thrilled that the Hear by Right standards framework is being used as a compass and map to help plan the terrain ahead.”

The project will begin in April 2009, but already work is under way to prepare for it, including four youth consultation events to be held across the country in November.

The press release can be found here.