Tottenham Youth Fund
Community development   >   Tottenham Youth Fund
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The Tottenham Youth Fund has been set up by Councillor Seema Chandwani and David Lammy MP. 

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Every year Cllr Chandwani will be donating £1,000 of her Councillor allowance to the young people of Tottenham and this has been matched by a personal donation of £1,000 by David Lammy MP. The rest of the funds will be raised by crowd-funding and donations from local businesses and organisations. Young people from Tottenham between 11-19 years old can apply for equipment, events and trips for their youth project.

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The Tottenham Youth Fund is being administered by The Selby Trust.

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Donate to the Tottenham Youth Fund

The Tottenham Youth Fund is reliant on donations. The more donations we receive, the more organisations we can say yes to. 

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Councillor Seema Chandwani and David Lammy MP have pledged to donate £1,000 each for the next 3 years (a total of £6,000). But to fulfil as many requests from young people as possible, we need your help.

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There are several ways you can donate:

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Crowdfunding Page

You can donate directly to the Tottenham Youth Fund crowd-funding page via Go Fund Me by clicking here

 

Regular Donation

If you wish to make a regular donation of a certain amount each month, you can set up a Direct Debit. Please email us on tyf@selbytrust.co.uk

Apply to the Tottenham Youth Fund

If you are an organisation working with young people or their families in the Tottenham Constituency then you can apply. Application and guidance notes are below.

Deadline Date:

30th June 2021

30th September 2021

31st December 2021

31st March 2022
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Applications should be sent to tyf@selbytrust.co.uk

 

The decision committee meets shortly after and makes a decision on the ones received. 

 

Where can I get a form?

You can download all the documents you need below. 

TYF Winter Fund Guidance Notes

TYF Winter Fund application form (Word)

Previous applications

April 2019

The successful applications from April 2019 are:

Belle

Age: 11

Project / Organisation: Black Arts Production

Applied for: Belle and her friends; Zahani and Kaliyah applied for £238.98 to purchase a Video Camera and DVDs so they could film a theatre performance about the dangers of knife crime so it can be used in schools across Tottenham

Niayla

Age: 15

Project / Organisation: Haringey Shed

Applied for: Naiyla and her friends; Sienna, Tatiana and Shandezz applied for £250 to purchase hoodies for their theatre group

Ashley

Age: 14

Project / Organisation: LIFT/The Vale School

Applied for: Ashley and his friends; Zerda, Deshawn, Hemish, Sudenaz and Reuben are working on producing an argumented reality game about the diverse lives in Tottenham. They are planning a trip to the BBC in May to visit their Virtual Reality hub to learn more about this technology. The group of young people include young people with disabilities who require transport to be able to attend the trip. They applied for £250 towards transport costs of their trip.

Abena

Age: 11

Project / Organisation: Markfield

Applied for: Abena applied for funding to get equipment for the afterschool and holiday club she attends at Markfield. Abena and all of the young people were really good at sourcing a number of items for £250 including basketballs, footballs, badminton equipment, musical instruments and sensory toys. Markfield run afterschool clubs and holiday schemes for young people with learning difficulties, autism and their siblings

July 2019

The successful applications from July 2019 are:

Ted

Age: 17

Project / Organisation: Tottenham District Scounts

Applied for: Ted applied for £250 to pay for camping equipment and costs for a trip to the Lake District for young people who would otherwise not afford to go

Kristina

Age: 14

Project / Organisation: Northumberland Park Girls Club

Applied for: Kristina and her friend Bianca applied for £234 so their girls group could go on a trip to the London Dungeons over the summer holidays

Kyro

Age: 11

Project / Organisation: Project 2020

Applied for: Kyro and his friends applied for £176.97 to buy a range of equipment for their youth club including a keyboard, playstation games and pool cues

September 2019

The successful applications from September 2019 are:

Reuben

Age: 17

Project / Organisation: Bruce Grove Youth Space

Applied for: Reuben and his friends applied for £250 to help with the costs of their talent show in December

Natalia

Age: 13

Project / Organisation: Haringey Play Association / Somerford Grove Adventure Playground

Applied for: Natalia and her friends applied for £250 for their end of year party they are organising for other young people and

their families

December 2019

The successful applications from December 2019 are:

Kaise

Age: 17

Project: People's World Carnival Band

Applied for: Kasie applied for £250 so her and her friends could redecorate their carnival costume workshop and buy storage equipment for all of the beads, fabric and sewing items. Kasie is doing a construction course at the local college and was going to work with other young people to put her skills to good use. 

Kaise

Age: 17

Project: People's World Carnival Band

Applied for: Kasie applied for £250 so her and her friends could redecorate their carnival costume workshop and buy storage equipment for all of the beads, fabric and sewing items. Kasie is doing a construction course at the local college and was going to work with other young people to put her skills to good use. 

Miri

Age: 14

Project: Kids In The Spotlight (KITS)

Applied for: Miri and her friends; Dassy, Hindy, Motty and Shaya applied for £250 to buy Kangoo Dancing shoes so that they could start their own Kangoo Dance class for Orthodox Jewish Girls and Young Women. Kango dancing is an aerobic exercise with boots that have a spring. 

March 2020

The decision committee made a decision to suspend all grants due to the COVID lockdown. Instead it made a £1,000 to Haringey Council's Social Services to help any young person in need in Tottenham with emergency support. 

December 2020

The decision committee made a decision to continue to suspend it's usual grant programme as many youth projects were not operating at full capacity and unable to deliver a normal programme. Instead it donated £1,500 worth of supermarket vouchers to young people and their families who were struggling with food over the Christmas period. In total 75 families benefited and were identified by the following youth organisations:

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- Bruce Grove Youth Centre

- Haringey Play Association

- Homes for Haringey

- Irish Causeway Housing Association

- Kids In The Spotlight (KITS)

- Positive Role Models CIC

Spending

Spending Update: 23rd May 2021

 

Total Raised: £8,283

  • £3,283.00 - Crowdfunded

  • £5,000 - Offline donations from Cllr Seema Chandwani and David Lammy MP

 

Total Spent: £1,903.34

  • Crowdfunding Fees: (1.9% + 20p): £70.41

  • Selby Admin Fee (5%): £414.15

  • Distributed to Projects: £5,089.96

 

*The Selby Trust process all grants awarded, enable us to have an email/website page and also include our funds into their Accounts so they are audited.

Decision committee 

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Cllr Seema Chandwani: 

Seema is the former Deputy Head of Youth Services for Haringey Council and the Former Director of Operations for the Damilola Taylor Trust. Seema was elected in December 2018 as the Councillor for West Green ward in Tottenham, Haringey. It was at her election she committed to donate some of her Councillor allowance to set up the Tottenham Youth Fund with her friend and Tottenham MP David Lammy. 

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David Lammy MP: 

David has been the MP for Tottenham since 2000 and in that time he also served as the Minister for Higher Education. David was born in Tottenham on 19th July, 1972, one of five children raised by a black single mother. David became the first Black Briton to study a Masters in Law at the Harvard Law School in 1997. When approached by his friend Seema about his thoughts in setting up the fund - David instantly offered to match her annual donation.

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Dr Victor Olisa QPM: 

Chief superintendent Dr. Victor Olisa QPM is a retired senior police officer who served in the Metropolitan Police in London, England. He served as borough commander in Haringey after the riots where he was involved in various projects to build community relations. Dr Olisa went on to be the Londonwide Head of Diversity for the Met Police before he retired in 2017. Dr Olisa is now a Trustee for the Selby Trust.

Contact us

The Tottenham Youth Fund can be contacted by email on tyf@selbytrust.co.uk 

FAQs

Can we apply for staffing?

No. The Tottenham Youth Fund is for equipment or one off trips. The maximum level young people can apply for is £250 and would not cover staff salary.



Can schools apply?

No. Only young people between 11 - 19 years old can apply. Organisations and institutions cannot apply. Young people from your organisation and institutions can apply, including schools. However for schools the application must be for activities that are not during school hours or as part of the curriculum. It can be for an after-school activity like a Football programme.



Our organisation is based in another borough, but we deliver in Tottenham - can our young people apply?

Yes. It would be helpful if you made that clear in the application form to avoid delays. For example, our project is delivering at Chestnuts Community Centre and this is bid is specifically for this project.



Our project is a private organisation, can young from our organisation apply?

This is dependent on the type of organisation you are, if it is a profit making company then we will not accept the application. We will also not accept applications where there is not at least two bank signatories or where the equipment is being used to generate profit which is not being reinvested back into the project. For example: If young people apply for catering equipment for their tuck-shop and all profits go back into running the project or service, then we will accept the application. However if your young people apply for catering equipment for a private profit making cafe based at your building, then we will not accept the application.



We are young people who do not belong to a youth project or organisation, we want to apply to help us start something - can we do that?

The Tottenham Youth Fund love it when young people want to do things for themselves. Sadly, when it comes down to money, we have to make there are some rules in place. You will need to ask an organisation to help you. Remember, whatever you do will need other things like insurance or health and safety in place. There are a lot of youth organisations which will help you take care of all the boring bits so you can do what you want to do.



Do you fund religious or political activity?

We do not fund religious activity - however young people applying from churches, mosques, synagogues etc are not excluded from applying, as long as the activity is not religious in nature. We do not fund party political activity - however we are happy to accept (and encourage) applications from young people who are campaigning on a social cause (i.e.. votes at 16 or period poverty) or civil responsibility projects (i.e.. UK Youth Parliament, Youth Councils etc.). So for example, if an application comes in for tee-shirts and leaflets to help highlight a campaign against gang crime, we will accept it. If an application came from the Labour Party or Lib Democrats to for leaflets for young people to join a party, we won't accept it.



We need the money before your deadline, can you decide on ours early?

Sorry, no we can't the Decision Committee only meets 4 times a year. We also feel it's unfair if people get a decision early and then there are no funds for those who apply in time for the deadlines.



Why would you reject our application?

The main reason will probably be that we do not have enough money for everyone. But there could be other reasons (some of them answered above). We will explain why when we respond. We won't reject an application based on spelling, grammar or because we other people wrote more or less. As long as you are clear about your idea, what you want and what it's for, then that's all we ask for.



Who is on the Decision Committee?

Councillor Seema Chandwani, David Lammy MP and Dr Victor Olisa QPM Councillor Seema Chandwani is a local Councillor for West Green ward in Tottenham. David Lammy is the Member of Parliament for Tottenham. Dr Victor Olisa QPM used to be the Police Borough Commander for Haringey and is now a Trustee at the Selby Trust.