Our team of Challenge and Change Advisers decided to fund 26 partners through Challenge and Change in 2022/23.
Five advisers, all of who were previously funded through Challenge and Change, attended an in-person decision day to decide who to fund. The advisers were supported by Blagrave’s two Youth Led Change Programme Leads and the Centre for Knowledge Equity were also in attendance to help us make equitable decisions with Lived Experience in mind. It was an incredibly inspiring day. The advisers came with thoughts, passion and a willingness to share from their own lived and learnt experiences, resulting in lots of rich conversation, collaboration and mutual learning.
The majority of the applications we received asked for the maximum grant available: £10,000. To honor the request for high levels of funding as much as possible while keeping within the programme budget, the advisers settled on a final list of 26 partners and reduced the maximum grant size to £8,000. The total grant amount going directly to young people though Challenge and Change in 2022/23 is £204,000.
All those who were unsuccessful were informed within a month. They were invited to join a mailing list for future events and opportunities for learning, including within Challenge and Change. We also offered bespoke feedback for those requested it to help them continue their social changemaking journeys. There has been quite a bit of take-up on this feedback and all conversations have been very constructive and positive.
The 2022/3 Challenge and Changers
In terms of a breakdown of 2022’s cohort:
- 12/26 are London based
- 8 are part of collectives (but this number is already growing as young people are developing their teams further!)
- 18 are individuals
- 1 of the collectives are part of a movement.
We held the first ever Challenge and Change welcome day in early July and our first meeting with the cohort of young changemakers was incredible. The day was full of laughs, learning and connection as can be seen in these two videos from the day.
We are also running a support offer for the cohort, which started at the beginning of September when their first round of grant payments were made. This support offer has included:
- Bi-weekly workshops on topics such as budgeting, strategy development and how not to burn out (as suggested by the advisers and with feedback from the Challenge and Changers at the welcome day)
- Check-ins with our Youth Led Change Lead every 6-8 weeks to ask questions/share opportunities and see how they’re getting on.
- An online slack space for peer learning and connection
- Regular community learning sessions where the Challenge and Changers are able to talk to the work they’ve been doing, share questions or tips, etc.
- A follow up in person event in early November to be re-energized by other young changemakers!
- Working with a storyteller to help reflect on their journey throughout the program, with outputs for themselves, the wider sector and other young people interested in social change work
We are so excited to see what the next 12 months will bring, watch this space!