Youth Moves recently held a fantastic youth led celebration evening at The Park Centre.

With young people having recently administered funding to various projects in South Bristol, we wanted to invite them all along.

So on Monday 9th January 2023, alongside the High Sheriff and Deputy Mayor, projects came to along to showcase what they did with the money and the impact it had on their communities. The night was a brilliant success.

The crowd are listening to young volunteer Mitch telling his personal journey with Youth Moves

It was also an opportunity for young people from the The Youth Fund Group to talk about the process and decisions they made, and for some young people to talk about their personal journey with Youth Moves.

The organisations that were in attendance included Filwood Community Garden, Merchants Academy, Belfast Walk, The Park Centre, UK Youth, and many more. Each organisation presented evidence on what they were able to achieve with the money.

It was a great example of effective partnership working across an area, and demonstrated that young people have the knowledge and capability to know where funding in those areas goes best.

The Youth Fund group said : "The night was fun. It was good seeing different projects, and the difference the money has made."

Young people are interviewing one of the projects that were funded through the South Bristol Youth Fund for the podcast show called Bridging The Gap

And being given responsibility and control of the process was new for many, and is something they would love to continue to do. They said : "It was great for us to have full control of the pot of money and where it went, and of course organising the celebratory evening."

Here is the full list of groups that received funding:

Filwood Residents Association - £2500 - to purchase a wooden pergola for their community garden, which has real benefit for health and wellbeing of the groups that use it.

Merchant Academy Learning Lodge - £2500 - to convert their shed into a place of comfort and safety for students. Buying sofas, chairs, TV and a graffiti artists to design the inside.

Hartcliffe & Withywood Community Partnership - £2500 - to find a 7 week, weekly course for young people to provide warmth, food, and activities during the cost of living crisis.

Seniors Youth Club - £2500 - Six week cooking course for young people to provide a Christmas meal for local residents in Knowle, and to contribute to the decor and activities provided

The Park Education - £5000 - to provide multi-activity drop in sessions for SEN pupils

The young people from the South Bristol Youth Fund debrief alongside the High Sheriff Alex Raises after the celebration event 

We are very thankful for the council for supporting us and directly funding this work. As funding has now come to an end, we are keen to continue this model of supporting communities. So if you or anyone you know is interested in supporting the continuation of this model, then please get in touch with us on [email protected]