I started off as a young volunteer at the Bradford Youth Bank and I have now developed this into an independent organisation called Bradford Youth Grants. We still run the Youth Bank but we also provide other services to help similar projects get off the ground. We have developed an accredited training course in Grantmaking which we deliver to youth boards across the country to help them set up and run youth-led grantmaking projects. Our training module covers issues such as promotion, decision-making criteria, interview techniques, how to assess applications etc. We also run a mapping exercise which helps people look at their community, what activities and assets they already have, what is missing and what they could make better. Over the last two years in Bradford we have awarded over £100,000 in grants to young people-led projects. There have been some fantastic projects such as a national breakdancing event where groups came from around the country to compete in Bradford. It brought together a really diverse mixture of people. Another project involved supporting people with mental health issues to cultivate an allotment so that they were able to sell their own produce in community centres.
