COULD your group or project use funding to make a difference to the lives of young people in your community?

The latest round of North Ayrshire Council’s Young People’s Participatory Budgeting scheme opened for submissions on Monday, August 19, offering the chance to secure grants of up to £1,000 per project.

Why not submit a bid and let North Ayrshire’s eight to 25-year-olds decide on where the cash should be spent? Applications can be sent in by individuals, clubs or groups and Parent Councils and should fit with at least one of the themes of Health and Well-being, Poverty and Inequality or Participation and Young People’s Voice.

The closing date for submissions is at noon on Sunday, October 13, and application packs are available online from www.young.scot/napb, by emailing youthpb@northayrshire.gov.uk or by calling 01294 324749.

A total of £60k is available to share between all of the six North Ayrshire localities – Irvine, Kilwinning, Three Towns, Arran, Garnock Valley and the North Coast – including £10k which will focus on young people’s mental health and well-being.

Even if you’re not bidding for funds, you can play an important role by voting for the projects that you believe will best use the funding. Voting is open to all eight to 25-year-olds who live in North Ayrshire and will be officially opened at North Ayrshire Youth Conference on Friday, November 1, with the vote going live on the Young Scot website on Friday, November 8. Voting will close on Friday, November 22.

Access to the online voting platform will be through your Young Scot National Entitlement Card – or you can obtain a temporary number to vote by emailing youthpb@northayrshire.gov.uk.

There will also be the opportunity to vote in schools, community facilities and at Ayrshire College in Kilwinning.

Councillor Shaun Macaulay, North Ayrshire Council’s Youth Champion, said: “It is only right that our young people are able to decide which projects they’d most like to see funded in their area.

“Last year, 56 local clubs and groups benefited through our Young People’s Participatory Budgeting scheme, with almost 6,500 votes cast through the Young Scot website.”