New funding opportunities to deliver youth programmes across parks and open spaces in Coventry through spring and summer 2023 have been announced. The funding will support greater access to healthy lifestyles provision through culture, sport and wellbeing activity.
The 2023 Go Parks Commissions are made possible by a partnership between Coventry City Council, Coventry City of Culture Trust and Positive Youth Foundation and will enable significant cultural activity to take place.
This Go Parks sports activity is funded by Sport England and managed by Coventry City Council. The funding was established following the pandemic, where the effects of isolation across the city have compounded inequalities, exacerbating pre-existing barriers to physical activity as well as creating new challenges.
The cultural activity is supported by Arts Council England, Esmée Fairbairn and Paul Hamlyn Foundation and forms part of the Coventry City of Culture Youth Legacy Commissions designed to activate and inspire new thinking, build creative skills, and support young people to take action to shape a better future for Coventry. Find out more about Coventry City of Culture Trust’s Legacy Commissioning Model.
The Proposal
We are looking for organisations with an interest in supporting a more sustainable and a better future for Coventry’s young people. The successful organisation will design and deliver a programme of outdoor-based provision for young people between the ages of 8-25. Delivery will take place between May - September 2023.
We are looking to work with organisations based in Coventry and the West Midlands that:
• Are embedded into the work of the Coventry Youth Partnership (CYP) (or are willing to work alongside the CYP)
• Have successful experience of working with young people who are identified as being in need of additional support, including those who find themselves at risk of/ are NEET, risk of exploitation, low engagement in additional activities, poor health outcomes
• Have a positive and collaborative mindset and experience of working successfully on programmes with multiple partners
• Have a clear neighbourhood/community footprint in Coventry or are actively seeking to collaborate with organisations that do
• Have a strong project management and an outcomes-led approach to work, including data collection and analysis
• Have a good understanding of equal opportunity access planning and awareness to ensure that activities are accessible to a wide range of participants
• Have experience of co-creation/co-design of activity with young people. • Are conscious of the environmental impact of their work and design activity with this in mind
There will be two distinct funds available within this commission:
• Go Parks Physical Activity Fund - up to £5,000 available per organisation/per location
• Go Parks Cultural Activity Fund - up to £5,000 available per organisation/per location
Please Note: The basic commission budget across physical and cultural activity is £5,000 per commission. However, we would enable larger commissions (up to £10,000) to be delivered by applicants who are able to strongly demonstrate need, ambition to work in partnership or across sites, or to scale an idea or programme. Please feel free to apply for multiple locations/pots based on your reach and ambitions.
Physical Activity and Creative Arts Funds: Activities and Outputs
Activities
• Deliver an appropriate number of activity sessions in line with the needs of young people and budget awarded. In many cases we would anticipate this would be regular weekly delivery of activity – however this may differ depending on the activity/artform
Outputs
• Increase physical and cultural activity in local green spaces for young people aged 8-25
• Increase engagement from young people who are traditionally less likely to engage with sports, arts and/or culture within a park setting.
• Increase the number of young people feeling confident to access their local green spaces/parks
• Increased satisfaction of young people relating to opportunities and access to related provision
• Positively contribute towards partnership working in parks across the city
• Support participants to connect with a Summer 2023 celebration moment that will bring outputs from across all youth commissions together
• Increase connectivity across youth programmes and local policy developments by connecting with the recently commissioned Youth Leadership Advisory Group
Apply
Thank you for your interest in the Go Parks Cultural Commission opportunity. Prior to applying, please contact [email protected] for an update on the application process.
If you are interested in this opportunity, please download the application, complete the questions and send them to Positive Youth Foundation [email protected] by Monday 13 February 2023, 5pm
Positive Youth Foundation, Coventry City Council and Coventry City of Culture Trust will consider the proposals and how they relate to the core Go Parks Programme. Shortlisted proposals will be reviewed by a panel that includes youth representation and representation from the wider Coventry Youth Partnership network. We reserve the right to accept or decline partners based upon the fit with local need and wider programme objectives. If you have questions, please get in touch on the email above.
