Daisy Mummery, Sovereign’s #iwill Fund Project Manager, speaking to youth-focused Boxing club Empire Fighting Chance

£100k funding for youth social action

• 8 min read

Youth-focused organisations working in communities within three miles of Sovereign Housing Association homes are being invited to get involved with the Sovereign #iwill Fund.

Grants of up to £10,000 are available for projects that focus on youth social action to apply – applications open 18 July 2022 and close 5 August 2022. Sovereign’s Youth panel, made up of 18-25-year-old residents, will be involved in deciding which projects are awarded grants.

Alongside the Sovereign #iwill Fund grants, Sovereign is launching the Sovereign #iwill Youth Network, in partnership with Creative Youth Network, to create a learning environment for organisations and young people interested in youth social action.

Organisations will be able to join the network, whether they have been funded through the Sovereign #iwill Fund or not to access support, training, Innovation Labs and networking.

The #iwill Fund is made possible thanks to a £54 million joint investment from The National Lottery Community Fund and the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) to support young people to access high quality social action opportunities. Sovereign is acting as an #iwill Fund match funder and awarding grants on behalf of the #iwill Fund.

Helen Whyman, Head of the #iwill Fund at The National Lottery Community Fund, said: “The work of the #iwill Fund has an incredible impact on young people, making them feel empowered to take an active role in helping their communities prosper and thrive. Thanks to National Lottery players we are able to support young people to make a real and positive difference to the communities they live in.”

Daisy Mummery, Sovereign’s #iwill Fund Project Manager, added: “The #iwill Fund found that, whilst many young people care about making the world a better place and believe they can make a difference, only 4 in 10 young people are currently participating in meaningful social action when surveyed.

“That’s why we’re so pleased to have been given funding from the #iwill Fund, so we can give organisations in our communities grants and support that enables young people to make a positive difference in their area and develop their own skills.”

For more information and to apply for the Sovereign #iwill Fund grants and Sovereign #iwill Youth Network, please visit www.sovereign.org.uk/sovereign-iwill-fund

#iwill Fund

  • The #iwill Fund is made possible thanks to £54 million joint investment from The National Lottery Community Fund and the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) to support young people to access high quality social action opportunities.
  • The #iwill Fund brings together a group of organisations who all contribute funding to embed meaningful social action into the lives of young people.
  • The #iwill Fund supports the aims of the #iwill campaign - to make involvement in social action a part of life for young people, by recognising the benefit for both young people and their communities.
  • By bringing together funders from across different sectors and by making sure that young people have a say in where the funding goes – the #iwill Fund is taking a collaborative approach.

The #iwill movement

  • The #iwill movement is a collaboration of over 1000 organisations and 300 young #iwill Ambassadors from across the UK. They are united by a shared belief that all children and young people should be supported and empowered to make a positive difference on the issues that affect their lives, their communities, and broader society.
  • #iwill was launched in November 2013 after an independent review into how different sectors could help more young people to make a positive difference. 
  • The #iwill movement is supported by an independent coordination hub, hosted by Volunteering Matters & UK Youth.
  • Take the lead by signing up to the Power of Youth Charter at www.iwill.org.uk or follow us @iwill_campaign on twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn.

The National Lottery Community Fund

We are the largest funder of community activity in the UK – we support people and communities to prosper and thrive.

We’re proud to award money raised by National Lottery players to communities across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, and to work closely with Government to distribute vital grants and funding from key Government programmes and initiatives.

Our funding has a positive impact and makes a difference to people’s lives. We support projects focused on things that matter, including economic prosperity, employment, young people, mental health, loneliness and helping the UK reach net zero by 2050.

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.  

National Lottery players raise over £30 million each week for good causes throughout the UK. Since The National Lottery began in 1994, £43 billion has been raised for good causes. National Lottery funding has been used to support over 635,000 projects - 255 projects per postcode area.

Website │Twitter │Facebook 

Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport

  • General enquiries
  • Press Office
    • Media enquiries (journalists only) 020 7211 2210
    • Out of hours telephone pager 07699 751 153.

Social media

Match-funders and grant-holders will promote the #iwill Fund and share news, stories and other content across their social media channels, turning stories in to blogs, case studies and/or films and audio that can be shared externally.

When communicating about the fund, the hashtag #iwillFund should be used. It is the responsibility of the match-funders to ensure that the grant holders are using these hashtags.

The partners will use the handles @iwill_movement, @TNLComFund and @DCMS when mentioning being in receipt of funding on social media.

Big Lottery Fund’s Facebook page is https://www.facebook.com/TNLCommunityFund/ and there is also a blog at https://www.tnlcommunityfund.org.uk/news/blogwhere we share stories about organisations we fund, beneficiaries and volunteers.

Public affairs

The match-funders are to inform The National Lottery Community Fund of any meetings, correspondence or contact with MPs or local authorities about the #iwill Fund. They will also liaise with The National Lottery Community Fund on the planning of campaigns or events with MPs, local authorities and peers to ensure all parties are consulted on these plans.