Canal & River Trust

Q: What is the #iwill Fund and can I apply for funding?

<p><a href="https://iwill.org.uk/about-us/iwillfund" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Visit our page on the #iwill Fund</a>.</p>

Question 1

What is #iwill?

Accepted Answer

#iwill is a movement comprised of over 1000 organisations and 700 young #iwill Ambassadors & Champions from across the UK. They are united by a shared belief that all children and young people should be supported and empowered to make a positive difference on the issues that affect their lives, their communities, and broader society.

#iwill is empowering, challenging, independent, collaborative and inclusive – it belongs to everybody.

The #iwill movement is powered by young people and organisations.

The #iwill Ambassadors and #iwill Champions, alongside organisations who sign up to the Power of Youth Charter, help ensure meaningful action is taken to support more children and young people to be active citizens.

The #iwill Partnership is made up of leaders of collective action groups working within and across sections and nations of the UK to guide the #iwill movement.

The independent #iwill Coordination Hub, hosted by Volunteering Matters and UK Youth, supports the #iwill Partnership, #iwill Ambassadors and broader #iwill movement.

Question 2

How was #iwill formed?

Accepted Answer

In 2012, the Prime Minister asked Dame Julia Cleverdon and Amanda Jordan OBE to review how to increase the quality and quantity of youth social action. After a wide-ranging consultation their report highlighted the barriers to youth social action and produced a set of recommendations.

Barriers included a shortage of activities in education from 10 upwards; confusion in the education and business sectors about the kind of initiatives they could support; failure to promote and inspire young people to take part; and an absence of a coherent vision to promote a culture of youth social action.

The recommendations were to create an easy to navigate “service journey” for young people; scale up programmes to fill gaps in provision; embed social action in young people’s educational experience (school, further and higher education); develop a culture of promoting and celebrating youth social action comparable to effective programmes run in other countries around the world.

The review concluded that an initiative uniting organisations and the public should be set up to increase opportunities for young people. This initiative should be time limited, add to existing activity, and be a research and advocacy body, not one running programmes itself.

This initiative is #iwill, it has cross-party support and comprises over 1000 organisations and 700 young people.

It was coordinated by the charity Step Up To Serve between 2013 and 2020. It has now grown into a self-organising movement and from 2021 key support functions are delivered by Volunteering Matters and UK Youth. Find out more about this transition and how it happened.

Question 3

How does #iwill work?

Accepted Answer

The #iwill Movement’s collective action is guided by the #iwill Partnership – a cross-sector, UK-wide collaborative group made up of funders, young people and the co-chairs of nation and sector groups that meets quarterly.

Sectors and nations within the UK have established self-organising groups that meeting regularly and exist to drive progress toward the #iwill vision within their respective nations/ sectors. The Co-Chairs of each of these groups (one young person, one organisation representative) also hold a seat on the #iwill Partnership Board.

The key support functions for #iwill, such as the communications and the running of the #iwill Ambassador and Champion network are delivered by a consortium made up of two UK charities: Volunteering Matters and UK Youth.

These charities were chosen following a 3-month competitive process in 2020, after Step Up To Serve – the charity that originally coordinated the #iwill campaign – closed down as planned at the end of 2020.

Question 4

How are young people involved in #iwill?

Accepted Answer

The campaign is represented by 300 young #iwill Ambassadors. They come from a variety of backgrounds across the UK, but all have one thing in common – a passion to make positive social or environmental change. They have played a powerful role in championing youth social action and shaping the direction and activities of #iwill. #iwill Champions were launched in autumn 2019, in order to give a wider cohort of young people who are passionate about youth social action ways to support #iwill.

We work with our #iwill Ambassadors and Champions in various ways. They help to shape the campaign’s strategy, spread the message about youth social action and encourage organisations to get involved.

Question 5

What is the #iwill Fund and can I apply for funding?

Accepted Answer

Visit our page on the #iwill Fund.

Question 6

How is #iwill funded?

Accepted Answer

Progress towards the #iwill vision is resourced by the organisations that are a part of the movement at their own discretion. A number of youth social action projects are also funded by the #iwill Fund in partnership with 25 Match Funders.

Volunteering Matters and UK Youth host an independent #iwill Coordination Hub. You can find out how Volunteering Matters and UK Youth are funded on their respective websites or through the Charity Commission.

Question 7

How can I get in contact with #iwill?

Accepted Answer

Get in touch via the #iwill social media channels: @iwill_campaign or by emailing iwill@volunteeringmatter.org.uk. If you are an #iwill Ambassador or Champion you can speak directly to the team supporting this network at iwill@ukyouth.org

Canal &amp;#038; River Trust

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Reflections on #iwillWeek23, by #iwill Ambassador Troy

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