Talent bonds

Our Talent Bond fund awards young people with direct investment of up to £300 for a project or purchase that grows a talent, builds on a strength or develops a skill.

Talent bonds might be used for starting up a project, paying for classes or a course, an initial cash injection for an enterprise, or equipment needed to further their abilities. We ask young people to be creative with their ideas, as well as brave, thoughtful and organised as they start up the project, run with it and make it happen!

Since the fund started in January 2019, we’ve funded 72 young people’s ideas. These include:

• Swimming lessons for a young person who wants to work as a flight attendant.
• Purchasing boxing equipment so a young person could increase the number of classes he was able to offer to fellow residents in his Foyer.
• Supplies for an artist who wanted to put on an exhibition of local work in her Foyer.
• Kit for a mobile burger van enterprise to provide funds and skills training to young people from YMCA Derbyshire.
• Start-up funds for a young person who planned to sell his T-shirt designs to support food drops in his local community.
• Equipment to create a thriving garden to encourage bonding and quality social time for young mothers and their babies.
• A laptop for a young man who has secured a place to study at university during the coronavirus pandemic.

All applications are reviewed by a panel of young people who have experience of living in Foyer. This panel works together to decide how the money should be allocated – a process that puts real financial decision making power into young people's hands. 

Applications are now closed for 2023