The Surrey Young People’s Fund (SYPF), managed by the Community Foundation for Surrey, is offering young Surrey residents assistance in accessing and benefitting from education, training and work experience as a pathway to employment. If you’ve not come cross it before, this very worthwhile fund aims to provide financial assistance for those in need, who would otherwise be unable to achieve their employment goals.   

The Community Foundation for Surrey (CFS) is an independent charitable foundation, that brings together local donors and those providing positive solutions to the many challenges within our communities. All donations are directed towards the most urgent needs across the county, with the aim of making a real and lasting difference to the lives of local people.

There are over 80 funds administered by the Community Foundation for Surrey and in March this year, the it also launched the Surrey Coronavirus Response Fund, which has already distributed over £2 million in funds to support groups trying to overcome the impact of coronavirus in local Surrey communities. 

The Surrey Young People’s Fund is a fund that individuals can access and is focused on supporting disadvantaged young adults aged 16-25 years who have a clear plan towards work, but who are unable to progress due to the absence of equipment, uniform, PPE, transportation funds and similar. 

In a year that has been harder than ever before for young people across county and country, grants have been awarded for the uniform and kit needed to access College courses, for work clothing, for online course fees and in the provision of laptops to facilitate online learning for those who may not have access to adequate IT equipment.

Anna Briggs, member of the Fund Panel and volunteer assessor at the SYPF said: “Finding a job in the current climate is hard enough without facing the obstacles which a lack of funding may bring in trying to access that opportunity. Pursuing further education or training in order to better position yourself for a job should be encouraged and the Surrey Young People’s Fund aims to help fund the books, equipment and course fees to enable that to happen,” she said. 

The Surrey Young People’s Fund welcomes offers of funding support and would like to encourage young people who are in need of assistance to apply for a grant. To be eligible, applicants need to be aged 16-25 years old, be a resident of Surrey and fall into one of the target groups of the Fund:

  1. If over 18 and unemployed (working less than 16 hours per week) 
  2. If aged 16-18 and not in full-time or part time school or college education or work-based learning, such as an apprenticeship. 
  3. Educational under-achievers (likely to achieve < 5 GCSEs grades A-C) 
  4. Offenders and ex-offenders 
  5. In or leaving care  

Applications may be made online at: www.cfsurrey.org.uk/fund/the-surrey-young-peoples-fund/

Let’s help build a brighter future for Surrey’s youth in these difficult times.

To find out more, or about how you can work together with the Community Foundation for Surrey, please visit: www.cfsurrey.org.uk or call 01483 478092.

About CFS:

The Community Foundation for Surrey awards grants to hundreds of community groups across Surrey every year. In 2019-20, this totalled more than £2 million, working together with local donors and partners to fund a wide range of needs.

The Community Foundation is committed to transparency and works with 360Giving to publish information about its grants.