Community Fund projects 2026/27

Step Up 2

North Yorkshire Sport £30,000.00 (MAS) – Countywide

This funding will add value by enabling Step Up 2 to build on the strengths of both the Stepping Up and Achieve projects, continuing to support seldom-reached young people in the most deprived communities. It will expand the reach and depth of early intervention, increasing mentoring, structured activities, and engagement opportunities. The project places a stronger focus on supporting young people within their local communities, fostering partnerships and creating opportunities for them to embed positively with peers and wider networks. Funding will also enhance evaluation, ensuring interventions remain evidence-led, impactful, and sustainable.

Through a structured blend of one-to-one and group mentoring, the programme proactively diverts young people away from pathways that can lead to offending, delivered through a trauma-informed approach with particular emphasis on the transition from primary to secondary school. Targeting young people aged 7–14, the programme raises aspirations, builds resilience, and develops essential life skills. A core element is strengthening relationships between young people and the police. Through mentoring, sport, and physical activity, participants engage in structured support sessions designed to develop soft skills, social literacy, and positive relationships. Sessions run for a half term, using schools as a safe and familiar environment, and culminate in a community-based session alongside peers to reinforce positive social connection.

From Mentoring to Ambassadors: A Prevention and Engagement Programme Using Mindful Photography

Mindful Photography UK CIC £15,000.00 (CF) – Countywide

This project delivers a targeted mentoring programme using mindful and therapeutic photography to support individuals experiencing vulnerability, isolation, or barriers to engagement. The programme is designed for those who may not yet be ready for employment or formal interventions, including survivors of domestic abuse, neurodivergent individuals, and those with experience of the justice system.

This is a preventative, engagement-led model that strengthens protective factors, reduces isolation, and supports long-term positive outcomes aligned with community safety. Participants are referred through established partnerships, ensuring appropriate support, safeguarding, and suitability for the programme. Through small group sessions and 1:1 mentoring, participants build confidence, self-efficacy, and connection. A key feature is progression into Peer Ambassador roles, enabling participants to support others and contribute positively to their communities.

A Clean Slate

Clean Slate Solutions £28,000.00 (CF) – Countywide

This project focuses on supporting the existing community mentor based in York, covering York and the wider North Yorkshire area. Funding will enhance impact by expanding the mentor’s capacity to reach more people with past convictions, providing resources to strengthen tailored mentoring, employment support, and partnerships with local employers, ensuring beneficiaries receive comprehensive assistance to reintegrate into society.

The role is currently funded at 50% of time in the region. This funding will allow 100% of mentor time, also covering the northern part of North Yorkshire where demand from both employers and beneficiaries is at an all-time high. The community mentor works closely with beneficiaries often up to 12 weeks before prison release, through the gate, and with those already in the community. Support often continues 3–6 months once employed. Through tailored training programmes, participants gain practical knowledge and competencies including NVQs in hospitality, HGV licences, CSCS construction cards, and specialised courses. Employment remains the single most important factor in preventing reoffending.

Killinghall Safe Sport Pavilion Project

Killinghall Cricket Club £28,500.00 (MAS) – Harrogate

Funding is for a specific safer access, inclusive changing and supervised community use package within the wider pavilion redevelopment. This includes upstairs team changing room fit-out with privacy and safeguarding measures, fit-out of the umpire and female changing room, an accessible WC and shower, entrance and circulation improvements, and equipment and delivery costs linked to structured junior and family activity.

The existing changing rooms have large windows, making them uncomfortable and inappropriate for children changing for sport. The current layout also restricts the ability to strengthen the junior pathway, grow girls’ and women’s cricket, and provide the accessibility and flexibility needed for disabled users and mixed participation scenarios. There have previously been issues with young people congregating around the ground, including anti-social behaviour. The club has worked hard to create a more inclusive, positive and supervised environment, and this project will build on that progress by strengthening the site as a safe, welcoming and well-used community recreation space.

The Reawakening Abstinence Based Recovery House and Peer Support Programme

Reawakening North Yorkshire CIC £10,000.00 (CF) – Harrogate

Reawakening North Yorkshire CIC provides abstinence-based supported housing and trauma-aware peer support for people in early recovery from addiction. This new project fills a clear and urgent gap in Harrogate and North Yorkshire for abstinence-based supported housing combined with structured, trauma-aware peer support. At present, individuals leaving detox, rehab, prison, or homelessness services often return to unstable or unsafe environments without access to abstinent, recovery-focused accommodation, increasing vulnerability, crisis presentations, exploitation risk, and the likelihood of reoffending.

The programme provides safe, stable, abstinent accommodation alongside a structured, lived-experience-led programme that builds recovery capital, resilience, and community connection. Over 12 months, the project will deliver weekly lived experience groups, recovery capital development, guest speakers, community engagement activities, and one-to-one support. The programme strengthens protective factors known to reduce reoffending: routine, positive relationships, accountability, community connection, and access to consistent support.

Active Future Half Term Youth Clubs

Leeds Futsal Partnership Ltd t/a Active Future East Leeds and Wakefield £5,600.00 (MAS) – Selby

The project currently delivers a FEAST-funded programme providing sport and movement opportunities for eligible young people. A clear gap has been identified in provision for those who fall outside FEAST eligibility, with approximately 20–30 non-eligible young people attending sessions each week. These young people are often those demonstrating anti-social behaviour in the surrounding areas.

This funding will formally extend provision to include these young people, removing financial barriers and creating a fully inclusive, universal offer. This will reduce the stigma associated with eligibility-based programmes and ensure all young people in Selby and Brayton can access the same opportunities regardless of background or circumstance. The project aims to deliver preventative, community-based provision that supports safer neighbourhoods while improving physical and mental wellbeing for young people most at risk of disengagement.

The Groves Community Action Project

The Groves Association £9,606.00 (CF) – York

The Groves Community Action Project aims to address persistent antisocial behaviour by improving the local environment and bringing together residents, partners and local services to create a safer, more welcoming neighbourhood. Following an Environmental Visual Audit undertaken by the MPlan Designing Out Crime Officer, clear recommendations were identified to reduce opportunities for ASB through positive changes to the physical environment.

Working in partnership with local businesses, Guildhall councillors, City of York Council and North Yorkshire Police, the project focuses on prevention, community engagement and improving perceptions of safety. Funding will support targeted environmental improvements in identified ASB hotspot areas, including installing low fencing to prevent drug users from congregating on existing low walls. Funding will also support positive engagement activities through Youth Justice Services and Community Payback schemes, with participants working with a professional artist to create new murals on communal walls, transforming neglected spaces into attractive community assets.

The Move Project

Dance Space Projects CIC / York Dance Space £17,400.00 (MAS) – York

This is a new project designed to address a gap in targeted provision for young male-identifying people in the Tang Hall area of York. While general youth services exist, there is limited provision that specifically engages young men through creative, movement-based approaches to explore masculinity, identity, and behaviour in a safe and structured way.

The project responds to a need for early intervention and diversionary activity that combines physical movement, creative expression, and facilitated discussion. It will deliver a 12-month programme of weekly movement, dance, and film workshops for young male-identifying people aged 11–15 in Tang Hall. Sessions will combine physical activity with creative exploration, providing a safe space for participants to express themselves while exploring themes of masculinity, identity, respect, and behaviour. The project aims to prevent involvement in anti-social behaviour and reduce risk of offending, supporting approximately 15–25 targeted young people with consistent weekly engagement.

YTT Safe Futures Youth Project

York Travellers Trust £17,345.00 (CF) – York

This is a new project developed in response to concerns raised by Gypsy and Traveller families about increasing challenges facing young people, including lack of safe spaces, exposure to risk, and limited access to trusted support. While some youth provision exists locally, there is a clear gap in culturally appropriate, consistent, and relationship-based engagement for Gypsy and Traveller young people, many of whom do not access mainstream services due to mistrust, discrimination, or feeling unsafe.

York Travellers Trust will deliver a targeted youth programme supporting Gypsy and Traveller young people aged 11–18 who are at risk of disengagement, isolation, or involvement in anti-social behaviour. The project will offer a weekly youth club alongside structured activities including dance sessions, self-defence training, and life skills sessions focused on managing conflict, emotional wellbeing, and navigating difficult circumstances. These activities are designed not just as engagement, but as preventative interventions that support young people to make safer choices and reduce vulnerability.

Rowntree Park Skate Park: Safer, More Inclusive Space Project

The Friends of Rowntree Park £8,500.00 (MAS) – York

This project builds on the established Make Space York initiative, which since 2021 has engaged over 400 teenage girls in shaping safer, more inclusive park spaces. This funding will enable targeted physical improvements to the skate park area within Rowntree Park, identified as a location where anti-social behaviour and intimidation can occur, affecting a wide range of park users.

The project addresses a clear gap between community insight and environmental change. It will apply learning from engagement – including evidence from girls who feel unable to access or pass through the space – to redesign the area by improving visibility, reducing enclosed areas and introducing welcoming social seating that encourages wider, more positive use. Working in partnership with the City of York Council, this project will benefit young people aged 10 to 18 alongside wider park users including families with small children, directly informed by extensive engagement demonstrating barriers to use linked to fear of harassment and exclusion.

Personal Safety and Prevention Programme for Women and Girls

Power For Women Limited £10,000.00 (MAS) – York

Power For Women is a self-defence and personal safety organisation that equips women and girls with the skills, awareness and confidence to reduce their risk of harm. This project builds on existing delivery that has already provided self-defence and personal safety training across schools, universities and community settings in York, alongside partnerships with North Yorkshire Police and Youth Justice services.

This funding will enable the project to expand and strengthen by increasing the number of sessions delivered, reaching a wider range of participants including those in priority or underserved areas, and developing more structured pathways for engagement. Delivery will combine targeted workshops in education settings, community-based sessions, and engagement with groups identified through existing local partnerships. Alongside in-person delivery, the project will provide access to online learning resources and educational materials to reinforce learning and enable participants to continue developing their knowledge and confidence beyond the sessions capacity.

Youth in Community

North Yorkshire Sport £15,870.00 – Countywide

North Yorkshire Together is a partnership between North Yorkshire Sport, North Yorkshire Youth and Rural Arts. Together, they inspire healthier, happier and connected communities through the power of movement, creativity and youth opportunity. Creating experiences that help people discover potential, enrich lives, build confidence, and thrive in a fairer society. The project will address a growing gap in support within community-based physical activity settings. NY Together will be introducing trusted adults into these settings through mentoring, engagement activities, volunteer development and partnership working. By creating safer, more supportive spaces, the project will strengthen wellbeing, increase participation in physical activity and help young people feel more connected to their communities. This project is a 12-month pilot across community active settings, with a Youth Champion linked to each site. The Youth Champions will provide consistent relational support, help shape a calm and inclusive culture, respond early to emerging concerns and coordinate links with schools, youth services, health partners, social prescribers, police and the voluntary sector. The Youth Champions will strengthen the welcome, encourage participation and model positive behaviours. Training for the Youth Champions and other staff will cover trauma-informed practice, safeguarding, de-escalation, youth work approaches and local referral pathways (including Navigator training), with ongoing supervision and shared learning built in. Activities will include relationship-based engagement in gyms and community venues, informal mentoring, volunteer development, partnership working and simple monitoring of progress and learning.

Craven Boxing Sessions

Craven Pupil Referral Service £5,500.00 (£1,134.52 MAS and £4,365.48 CF) – Craven

Partnership between Craven PRS and the local boxing club aims to improve outcomes for vulnerable young people by providing access to structured, positive sporting activities that support physical health, emotional wellbeing, personal development, and community engagement. Funding will enable weekly boxing sessions for pupils on roll at Craven PRS. This to support attendance, engagement in learning and school, provide enrichment opportunities and reduce anti social behaviour in the local community. The project will promote physical wellbeing by increasing participation in regular exercise, improving fitness levels, and encouraging healthy lifestyle choices. Alongside the physical benefits, boxing training will support mental wellbeing by helping young people manage stress, regulate emotions, build self-esteem, and develop positive coping strategies. A key objective is to reduce the risk of antisocial behaviour by offering constructive activities during periods when young people may be most vulnerable to negative influences. The programme will encourage participants to channel their energy positively, make informed choices, and develop a stronger sense of responsibility and accountability for their actions.

UpFront

Hambleton Community Action (HCA) £5,550.00 – Hambleton

The grant will support the expansion of three areas of provision where demand currently exceeds capacity: social and wellbeing groups, Digital Support and By Your Side – the non-statutory advocacy support that enables people to have their voice heard and their needs better met. HCA will provide increased Digital Support for older people, those with learning differences and others at risk of digital exclusion, online fraud and financial exploitation. This additional capacity will help more people safely access online services, improve digital confidence and better recognise scams and online risks. Early intervention and practical support help individuals remain safe, reduce vulnerability and improve their ability to access appropriate services.

Safe Spaces: Neurodivergent Youth Diversion and Safety Project

Neurodiverse Community CIC (NDC) £15,000.00 – Richmondshire

Safe Spaces: Neurodivergent Youth Diversion and Safety Project will add a focused community safety and diversionary strand to NDC’s existing youth provision in North Yorkshire. The project will support neurodivergent children and young people who may struggle to access mainstream youth provision due to autism, ADHD, sensory needs, anxiety, communication differences, school avoidance, bullying, social isolation or low confidence. Without safe, accessible provision, some young people become increasingly isolated at home or spend more time online, increasing risks around poor mental health, unsafe social media use, exploitation, conflict, victimisation and crisis escalation. Funding will support supervised neurodivergent-friendly sessions through YouthAbility(10-18yr) and Sensory Explorers(4-10yr). Sessions will include structured diversionary activities, sensory regulation resources, trusted adult support, food, positive peer connection, online safety discussions, personal safety awareness, anti-bullying work and confidence-building activities. The project aims to help young people feel safer, build friendships, improve emotional regulation, increase community connection and reduce isolation. It will also support families by providing an early help space where concerns can be identified before they escalate. The project will maximise public benefit by using the Community Fund grant to provide safe, supervised, neurodivergent-friendly diversionary activities for children and young people in North Yorkshire.

Safe spot drop-in

Sidewalk Youth Organisation £19,606.00 – Scarborough

Sidewalk has been running a youth drop-in one evening each week for a number of years, and it has always been very busy. This project represents an expansion of this existing youth drop-in work, where young people Sidewalk meet out and about during detached youth work, and others who feel the need for somewhere to be, can have somewhere safe and sensible to hang out, meet others, and participate in diversionary activities. From experience, Sidewalk has identified that these sessions are particularly helpful for young people in crisis, those for whom home is not a safe space, and those most at risk of engaging in or being victims of anti-social behaviour and crime. Funding will roll out this provision to three evenings each week (Tue-Thu), with additional support and monitoring from a Senior Drop-in Worker who also co-ordinates the Detached service. For three evenings per week, the youth centre on Somerset Terrace will be freely-accessible third space for young people in Scarborough. It will offer positive, fun activities for young people aged 11-25, with the Detached Coordinator supervising the sessions and offering a listening ear where needed. Free snacks and drinks will be provided. Sidewalk will run this into the start of the new 2027/28 school year, as rates of crime and ASB peak in the summer holiday period in Scarborough, and so the young people supported will be able to settle into their studies with peace of mind.

Snainton Safe Communities Project

Snainton Playing Field and Village Hall £20,000.00 – Scarborough

This project builds on the successful community activities already delivered by Snainton Playing Field & Village Hall Charity, including Youth Club, Community Café, wellbeing sessions and community events. Funding will enable expansion of these activities by introducing dedicated community safety initiatives, additional youth sessions, intergenerational activities, crime prevention and anti-scam awareness events, first aid and personal safety workshops, and volunteer training. The project will reach more children, young people, older residents and vulnerable people, helping to reduce isolation, improve wellbeing and strengthen community cohesion. The funding will increase capacity, provide new opportunities for local people and create a safer, more connected and resilient community. The project responds to local concerns around social isolation, limited activities for young people, rural crime awareness and the need for more opportunities that bring people together in a positive environment. Funding will increase the number of Youth Club sessions, introduce holiday activities, and deliver a programme of community safety and wellbeing events for all ages. Funding will support a part-time project co-ordinator, specialist session leaders, equipment, volunteer training, publicity and the resources needed to deliver activities over a two-year period. The village hall is already a trusted community hub, and this investment will expand reach and provide more regular, accessible opportunities for local people to learn new skills, build confidence and support one another.

Impact

Trinity Church Scarborough £1,000.00 (PPF) – Scarborough

This funding will partially fund the project. Trinity Church funds Impact, the midweek youth group for 11-18s but this funding will expand and strengthen this project by providing funds for new resources for diversionary activities for young people attending the group. Impact is a midweek youth group for young people aged 11-18. It provides a safe, welcoming environment with opportunities to build relationships with safely recruited adult volunteers who are positive role models. There is current contact with 40 young people and opportunities for social, religious and personal development through games, activities and Bible teaching and discussion are offered. Sessions are free, fun and accessible and are lead by a team of volunteers. Funding will enable this provision to expand and engage with a wider group of young people.

The Right Path Project

Off the Hook Scarborough CIC £30,000.00 – Scarborough

The Right Path Project will be a 12 month boxing based diversionary and mentoring programme for young people aged 10 to 17 in Eastfield and Scarborough who are at risk of anti social behaviour, unsafe peer groups, school disengagement, exploitation, or becoming victims of crime. The project will be based at Westway Boxing Club in Eastfield, a gym that is very well known locally for its community work and its ability to reach young people who may not engage with more formal services. Off the Hook will work closely with local police, council contacts, families, schools and community partners to identify young people who would benefit most. Funding will support 1 Project Lead and Youth Mentor to run weekly boxing and fitness sessions, provide informal mentoring, manage referrals, complete onboarding, keep in touch with families, support volunteers and help young people stay engaged. Sessions will use boxing, fitness, discipline, routine and positive relationships to help young people build confidence, manage emotions, make safer choices and feel part of something constructive. The project will also include school holiday activity days and family or community safety events. These will give young people positive things to do during higher risk periods, while also helping families and local partners see progress and stay connected to the work. The aim is to engage with young people early, before problems become more serious.

Wild Minds

Flash Company Arts CIC £5,000.00 – Scarborough

Wild Minds is a new preventative programme developed in response to increasing isolation, poor wellbeing and disengagement from community life among both young people and older adults in Whitby. While local services provide some youth activity, food support, wellbeing and social opportunities, there’s currently no sustained programme bringing together creative practice, engagement with the natural environment and community participation as early intervention. Wild Minds will address this gap through two targeted strands, using activities including walking, photography, sound, music, visual arts, making and environmental exploration to build confidence, trusted relationships, positive peer networks and stronger connections with place and community, building on Flash’s trusted relationships rather than duplicating current provision. Participants will be identified through project’s youth clubs, FEAST programme, Community Fridge, Café Joy and Community Anchor networks, alongside referrals from local partners, creating a new pathway from initial engagement towards sustained participation, increased confidence and active community contribution. Wild Minds is a ten-month preventative, place-based programme using creativity and engagement with the natural environment to reduce isolation, strengthen wellbeing and help people feel safer, more connected and more actively involved in their communities. The project will have two targeted strands, engaging around 120 people. The first will work with approximately 50 children and young people aged up to 25, including young parents and those experiencing isolation, poor wellbeing or disengagement from community life, with sustained support for those at greater risk of vulnerability or anti-social behaviour. The second will engage around 70 older adults experiencing loneliness, reduced confidence or social isolation.

Launch Pad: Community Works

Waythrough £20,000.00 – Scarborough

Launch Pad: Community Works is a new early-intervention project addressing the gap between conventional employability support and practical, community-based diversionary activity for 16–24-year-olds. Young people affected by disengagement, exploitation, offending or antisocial behaviour may not yet be ready to engage with formal employment or training programmes. The project will combine a welcoming weekly Hub with small-scale Community Works designed and delivered with participants. Young people will create colourful planters, revive shared gardens, refresh community rooms and brighten neglected outdoor features—producing visible results that local people can enjoy. Launch Talks, workshops and the Launch Passport will connect these experiences to education, training, volunteering and employment. The project will complement commissioned employability provision: its primary purpose is prevention, positive engagement and reconnection, with onward referral when participants are ready. Launch Pad: Community Works will provide a peer-led early-intervention programme for 16 young people aged 16–24 who are at risk of offending, antisocial behaviour, exploitation or disengagement from education, training and employment.

Ambition Hub

Selby High School £5,574.80 – Selby

This project has been trialled and has been a success as both a transition project and in terms of reducing suspensions for students both in primary and secondary schools. This funding will allow the school to run it again next year and focus more on behaviours students are displaying in the community, building resilience, outdoor learning within the Selby area, and building stronger relationships with the community police officers to reduce anti-social behaviour while the students are young. The Ambition Hub is a proactive project that focuses on outdoor learning that celebrates the power of physical activity. It is based around the success and engagement of pupils who are struggling with mainstream education. This is a project that promotes leadership qualities, problem solving and team work and forms a powerful transition tool as students prepare and move from primary to secondary school. It is a project open to students in Years 5-8 (10 to 13 yr old) focusing on prevention of permanent exclusions, early intervention to prevent anti- social behaviour in the community, and prevention of negative involvements with the police. designed to aid transition, and create a sense of achievement, by helping promote resilience, positive mind sets and the development of new skills that students can then apply to their school life, home life and their contributions to the community. The sessions will have a huge emphasis on being part of a team, communicating effectively, tolerance of others, raising self esteem and leadership. The project is aimed at students who are currently not engaging positively in school. Students who show leadership potential but who are making poor choices and who schools and other agencies are highlighting as at risk of exclusions, criminal activity in the future or both.

Swans Community Coaching Sports Club

Selby Rugby Union Football Club, trading as Swans Community Coaching £8,275.00 – Selby

The Swans Community Coaching Sports Club is a brand-new, free-to-attend, weekly drop-in sports session for young people aged 8–16, delivered at an OFFSITE community venue in Selby on a school-night evening during term time. Although Selby has several sports clubs, structured opportunities to be active without payment, membership or parental sign-up are limited — particularly during the evening hours when local anti-social-behaviour pressures are highest. The Swans Community Coaching Sports Club delivers weekly 2-hour drop-in sessions for young people aged 8–16 in Selby, 5pm–7pm during school term time, at an offsite community venue. Activities rotate across rugby, football, netball, cricket, dodgeball, lacrosse and mini-tennis — chosen so that no prior skill or experience is required.The aim is direct: provide a safe, structured, welcoming space on weekday evenings when young people are most exposed to anti-social-behaviour risk, where they can be active, meet other young people, and get to know trusted adults. Club will liaise with local Neighbourhood Policing Team for light-touch intelligence on local ASB hotspots, and with Selby’s primary and secondary schools amongst others to support referrals for those most in need.

Skate Barn

Tadcaster and Rural Community Interest Company £14,260.00 – Selby

SkateBarn has been a hugely popular provision since the refurbishment of the multi use games area and new equipment. The provision is usable by skateboards, BMX, mountain bikes and scooters and typically attracts 40-50 young people over a day. Under 10s are accompanied by parents. The funding for a year from September 2026 will enable the project to continue and to expand the provision so that more young people in the area are able to enjoy and learn and to undertake healthy outdoor physical activity in a safe environment. Funding will also enable the project to invest in equipment purchase and refurbishment. During the 7 years of operation at the Barn, including the past 3 years of actively delivering Skatebarn, not only is the Barn attended by 100s of young people weekly, including many who are highly vulnerable and who have engaged in ASB in the past, the Barn has never had a recorded incidence of ASB on its premises.

York Health and Arts Mela

Cultural Connections York CIC £2,000.00`- York

Funding will support a contribution towards this community-led project that uses arts, culture, health and wellbeing activities to bring together ethnic minority citizens, migrants, refugees, asylum seekers and the wider York community. The project aims to reduce isolation, improve access to support, strengthen community relationships and create a greater sense of value, belonging and safety. The Mela provides a welcoming, accessible space where people can connect, share experiences and build positive relationships with local residents, organisations and support services.

Winter Welcome

The Hearth Project £21,449.99 – York

Winter Welcome is a new project that addresses a gap in preventative, intergenerational community engagement. York offers youth provision, activities for older residents and arts programmes, but there are few opportunities that intentionally bring generations together to build trusted relationships as a means of strengthening community cohesion and improving feelings of safety. The project uses participatory theatre as a catalyst for conversation, culminating in The Welcome Table where young people, older residents and the wider community share food, stories and experiences; creating meaningful opportunities to challenge stereotypes, reduce fear and build empathy across generations. Rather than duplicating existing provision, Winter Welcome will work in partnership with local community organisations, youth providers and neighbourhood groups, complementing existing work by offering a creative, relationship-centred approach that supports early intervention, positive participation and community connection. This year-long, community-led theatre project will use participatory theatre, intergenerational creative workshops, storytelling, community performances and shared meals to bring young people (11–25) and older residents (60+) together in communities experiencing isolation, intergenerational disconnection, community tension and increased risk of anti-social behaviour. The grant will cover bi-weekly workshops, accessible venues, subsidised travel, refreshments, rehearsals, touring community performances and The Welcome Table. By removing practical barriers, the project will enable participants most at risk of exclusion to access creative opportunities that build confidence, resilience and positive community connections. Project will engage at least 200 participants, who will shape shared stories, may join the final performance alongside artists, and will be invited to The Welcome Table. Participants will be identified and referred by schools, CAMHS, youth providers, neighbourhood teams and community organisations, helping to reach those most at risk of isolation, poor mental health, low confidence, community tension or anti-social behaviour.

Art of Protest

Transforming Viking Road Park £12,375.00 – York

This is a partnership project to address areas of need where there are high levels of deprivation, inequality, increasing concern of anti-social behaviour and criminality in Viking Road Park. AOP Street Art Academy was set up as an alternative provision for those struggling in mainstream education, those disengaged or with neurodivergent needs. AOP will:

● Engage young people in positive activities to foster community cohesion
● Uplift the visual identity so people feel proud of Viking Park through 3 co-produced art installations
● Reduce crime, anti-social behaviour and support victims
● Measure the feeling of community safety and resident engagement

The project addresses issues highlighted by the Councillors, Police and residents and an escalation of anti-social behaviour in Acomb. As community engagement specialists, AOP will build opportunities to foster ownership, and reduce anti-social behaviour and criminality through spray paint workshops and co-production, building cohesion and legacy, via four levels of intervention.

Pathways to Purpose

Chocolate and Co £29,477.00 – York

Chocolate & Co provides supported employment, volunteering and practical support for young adults facing barriers to work, including addiction, offending, homelessness, poor mental health and social exclusion. Over the past three years Chocolate and Co has seen a significant increase in young adults aged 18–25 seeking support. Project works with partner organisations for referrals, including Probation, the Youth Justice Team, Aspire, MEAM, IPS, Spear, and Clean Slate solutions, while others self-refer before their challenges become more entrenched. This funding will provide three supported employment opportunities for vulnerable young adults over the next year, alongside the intensive one-to-one support that enables employment to succeed. It will contribute towards the Project Lead’s time, providing mentoring, safeguarding, partnership working and practical support around housing, education, recovery and wellbeing. The Project Lead is one of Chocolate & Co’s earliest beneficiaries, having experienced homelessness and recovery before progressing through the programme to now lead it. The aim is not simply to provide employment for twelve months, but to support each young person until they are ready to achieve sustainable progression into employment, education or independent living. By combining meaningful employment with consistent support and strong local partnerships, project will help young adults build confidence, stability and resilience, reducing the risk of offending, substance misuse and long-term social exclusion.