Money available through a pilot scheme being run by the Isle of Wight Council and the NHS Isle of Wight called Up2U is being made available to the youth in West Wight for community projects .

Young people in West Wight are now being urged to bid for a share of £20,000 to develop local community projects and have until 23rd December to bid for it.

Under Up2U, young people aged between five and 19 are being asked to come up with suggestions for schemes or projects they want to see in Freshwater and Totland next year. The ideas must be for schemes that will make a difference to the eating habits of their friends and families.

It is important that the ideas come directly from the young people and it is young people, and not adults, who must make the actual application. Adults are however on hand to offer advice and assistance to the young bidders who are encouraged to talk through their ideas with staff at their local school, health centre or youth club.

These projects should then get in touch with the local Up2U project worker, Mary Norledge at mary.norledge@googlemail.com. Mary will help these projects to think through their ideas, so that they can be worked up into funding bids. She will then put the projects in touch with the Rural Community Council. 

The bids will be checked, by a scrutiny panel made up of local councillors and local young people, to see that the projects have kept within the UP2U rules.  If they have, they will be invited to attend the Awards Event in January 2010.

At the Awards Event, the project teams will be joined by around 100 local people, to vote on which projects should receive a share of the £20,000.

IW Council leader Cllr David Pugh said:

“One of the aims of Up2U is to give young Islanders more control over the way that money is spent in their local area.

“At the same time it will provide the opportunity for the young people of Totland and Freshwater to come up with schemes that will improve their own lifestyles and those of others in their communities.

”We also hope the Up2U project will encourage young people to take an active interest in their communities and also introduce them to concepts such as project planning and budget management that we hope will serve them in good stead in later life.” 

Heather Lovell, Head of Strategies & Partnerships in the Public Health Department at NHS Isle of Wight said:

“Young people are being encouraged to find ways of keeping themselves healthy through what kind of food they eat and what they do to keep active. With the increase of access to fast foods and a more sedate lifestyle, our young people have this opportunity to have their say and plan their spare time in ways that keeps them at a healthy weight and active.”

For further information on the scheme, contact the Up2U project manager, Astrid Davies, on 01983 823804 or at astrid.davies@iow.gov.uk  or visit the website www.eco-island.org.uk/ip2u