Charity secures £100,000 grant for youth led work across north east Wales

A local charity has secured £100,000 to continue its youth led campaign work across North East Wales

TCC (Trefnu Cymunedol Cymru / Together Creating Communities) is an alliance of a diverse range of schools, faith, and community groups

The ‘Act for Change’ funding will enable the organisation to work with more young people to challenge social injustice.

One of the UK’s longest established community organising group, 2020 will be its 25th year of training and working with adults and young people to create positive change on local and national issues.

TCC young leaders have already improved support for young people who use British Sign Language, persuaded their college to be more welcoming for students who are refugees or asylum seekers and convinced the police to take action to reduce anti-social behaviour.

“I’ve gained a lot of knowledge about power, and how to speak to people,” explained of TCC’s current young leaders.

“Before I got into TCC I wasn’t really confident at speaking to people, who I believed had more power than me.

“I also thought that my opinion wasn’t really valued, but with TCC I’ve learnt that my opinion is important and I know I can talk to anyone about it. I know how to approach someone in power and how to speak to them.”

Act for Change Fund is a £3.6 million partnership between Paul Hamlyn Foundation and Esmée Fairbairn Foundation, for organisations supporting young people working for change.

It provides resources for young people to challenge social injustice, find ways of overcoming inequality and give voice to issues they are experiencing.

Youth and community organiser at TCC Lucy Allin said: “We’re delighted that Act for Change funding will allow us to spend more time working with young leaders to identify issues in their community, and support them to run effective campaigns and work directly with decision makers”.