Youth Advisory Panel

Spirit of 2012’s Youth Advisory Panel (YAP) was established to ensure that young people were part of our decision-making. From 2015 – 2021, there have been three panel cohorts with members from across the UK. On alternate years, the YAP was given responsibility for allocating money through the Youth Challenge Fund to projects they felt would empower young people.

Each YAP cohort managed the entire process, from developing the initial application criteria to making the final decisions on allocating funds. Since 2015, the YAP has awarded funding to four projects through the Youth Challenge Fund:

Reading Rooms

Delivered by Verbal Arts Centre in Derry/ Londonderry, Reading Rooms was a literacy group for young offenders in Northern Ireland. Groups met weekly in a safe, facilitated space to discuss and share reflections on carefully selected written pieces.

Rhythm and Respect

Delivered by Plymouth Music Zone, Rhythm and Respect was a community music project based in Plymouth. The project brought isolated people of all ages and abilities together to make music, develop skills and showcase performances.

Creative Minds

Youth Cymru’s Creative Minds used creativity as a means of removing the stigma of mental ill health for young people in South Wales. The young people were trained as Champions, and they devised and delivered social-action projects to spread a positive message about mental health, and the help that is available.

Bay Create

Whitley Bay Big Local’s Bay Create is a new project that uses creativity and coastal landscapes to bring under 25s and over 60s together united in the idea that: ‘We are more similar than we are different’. In partnership with Barnardo’s Whitley Bay, Bay Create brings together local residents from different generations for cultural projects inspired by the landscape and shared heritage of Whitley Bay.

Spirit of 2012 is a spend-out Trust, and in 2021, after six years, the Youth Advisory Panel was disbanded as we start to scale back our focus on funding projects. In April 2021, three YAP alumni, Hayley Bennett, Kirsty Ewen and Bethany Steventon-Crinks were appointed to the main Spirit of 2012 Board, meaning the average age of the Board is 42, compared to a sector average of 57.