Newbury, 11th September 2018 – Oxfordshire Community Foundation (OCF), funded through the #iwill Fund, is working in partnership with The Good Exchange’s not-for-profit, online matching cloud platform.
The #iwill Fund was created through £40 million of seed funding from Government, and the National Lottery through the Big Lottery Fund. It supports the aims of the #iwill campaign, to embed meaningful social action into the lives of young people. This includes activities such as campaigning, fundraising and volunteering, all of which enable young people to make a positive difference to their communities.
Oxfordshire Community Foundation is acting as a match-funder and awarding grants on behalf of the Fund via The Good Exchange platform.
“We’re delighted to be supporting the #iwill Fund to increase participation in social action from young people from lower social economic groups and those who might not usually take part in these types of activities,” said Jayne Woodley, CEO of Oxfordshire Community Foundation. “Working with The Good Exchange, we will be able to streamline the application process, reach and collaborate strategically with other funders to provide match funding, and encourage applicants to drive donations and fundraising of their own to help them meet the qualification criteria.”
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 immensely positive impact of funder collaboration on the overall success of campaign fundraising is well proven, and we’re delighted to be involved in facilitating this compelling incentive for the #iwill campaign,” said Ed Gairdner, COO of the Good Exchange. “We’re in full support of the campaign’s overarching objective: to make involvement in social action a part of life for young people, recognising the benefit for both themselves and their local communities. We are delighted that OCF has chosen to partner with The Good Exchange to expedite the process and help find matching funders.”
The #iwill Fund prioritises projects that embed skills in young people and the wider community as part of their delivery, and which clearly demonstrate principles of great youth social action. As part of the current round of funding, OCF has already awarded £5,000 to arts charity The Story Museum for their ‘Young Producers’ project, and will be making grants on a rolling basis until the #iwill funds are spent. Other groups should therefore consider making applications as soon as possible.
Grants made through OCF’s previous #iwill funding have already made a demonstrable difference to local communities. The Didcot TRAIN Youth Project works with young people who are at risk of educational failure, crime, child sexual exploitation, and alcohol and substance abuse. The project received #iwill funding for its Young Leaders Programme, which created a virtuous circle by enabling young people to help themselves and then to help others. Oxford Hub’s Schools Plus programme has used #iwill funding from OCF to place student volunteers in tutoring placement across 13 schools in Oxford City. The pupils improve their academic attainment in different subjects; while young volunteers develop new skills in team work, communication, tutoring and leadership.
Notes to editors
#iwill Fund
- The Government (DCMS) and Big Lottery Fund have each invested £20 million in to the #iwill Fund which will help to transform the culture of community engagement by getting young people involved in greater social action opportunities
- Over four years the Fund will be developed through investment and match-funding from Trusts and Foundations, businesses and philanthropists
- This innovative Fund, bringing together a coalition of investors, aims to create the conditions to embed meaningful social action into the lives of every young person
#iwill campaign
- The #iwill campaign is a collective effort involving over 800 partners from across the public, voluntary, education and business sectors with a vision to make meaningful social action part of life for 10- to 20- year olds by the year 2020, wherever they live and whatever their background
- The #iwill campaign was launched in 2013 with cross-party and cross-sector support after research into how the business, education, public and voluntary sectors could support young people to engage in social action. The campaign is coordinated by Step Up To Serve, a charity registered in England & Wales (no. 1154588)
- HRH The Prince of Wales is Patron of Step Up To Serve and the #iwill campaign. For more information, visit www.iwill.org.uk and follow @iwill_campaign
Big Lottery Fund
The Big Lottery Fund uses money raised by National Lottery players to help communities achieve their ambitions. From small, local projects to UK-wide initiatives, our funding brings people together to make a difference to their health, wellbeing and environment. Since June 2004 we have awarded £8.5 billion to projects that improve the lives of millions of people.
For more information and contact details please visit: www.biglotteryfund.org.uk/about-big/contact-us
Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
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About Oxfordshire Community Foundation
Oxfordshire Community Foundation is an independent charity that connects people who care with causes that matter. We inspire local philanthropy, and nurture community-based solutions to key social problems across Oxfordshire.
We are one of 46 community foundations in the UK, and over 1,800 similar foundations around the world. Community foundations collaborate with private philanthropists, family trusts, businesses and the public sector to provide a permanent, flexible and growing source of local charitable funding. Community foundations across the UK have collectively made over £1 billion in charitable grants.
About The Good Exchange
The Good Exchange is a transformational not-for-profit cloud platform specifically designed to match those organisations and individuals who have money to give to good causes with those who need it most; on a local, regional and national basis. As the only platform to bring together grant-making, donations, charitable projects and fundraising in one place, the automated matching system with its simple single on-line application form will revolutionise charitable giving, making it more accessible, transparent and collaborative. For the first time, those seeking to raise money for local good causes will be able to access all sources of funding including charitable trusts, corporate givers, fundraisers and public through a single process.
Media contacts
Charlotte Martin
The Good Exchange team at Finn Partners
TheGoodExchange@finnpartners.com
020 3217 7060