John Baron MP supports vInspired cashpoint

MP encourages young people to get involved

John Baron MP is supporting the vInspired cashpoint scheme which opened on 16^th April and offers grants of up to £500 to 14-25 years olds to help change their community for the better. The scheme has been running for the past five years and has been extended due to its popularity. Over the past five years, in excess of 800 grants gave been awarded.

But the grants won’t just benefit the community. Through applying for and running their projects young people will learn vital skills and confidence, which will help them in their future careers, and perhaps even inspire them to set up their own full-scale social enterprises.  Grant recipients will also be able to work towards their vInspired Awards, which officially record hours of volunteering and social action to be added to CVs or job applications. 

John said:

“This is a good scheme which gives young people the opportunity to make a difference in their local community, whilst giving them the confidence and skills needed for the world of work. I would like to encourage local young people to get involved.”

Terry Ryall, CEO of vInspired said:

“vInspired cashpoint gives young people the power to make a difference in their community.  We know that young people’s creativity, passion and energy has the power to change the world.  If there’s something you want to change, we want to help you make it happen.  Our charity, vInspired, gives young people opportunities to do good stuff, and you can’t do much better than vInspired cashpoint for that.  We can’t wait to see what fresh and exciting ideas our first round of applicants comes up with.”

Rui George Octavio, 24, set up his project, Grab the Mike, with a vInspired Cashpoint grant.  The project offers stand-up comedy lessons to help build young people’s confidence and communication skills.  He said:

“Getting the grant from vInspired really encouraged me to follow my ambitions.  I wasn’t sure whether I had a good idea, but knowing that I had an organisation that believed me really boosted my enthusiasm to make it happen.  We’re still running the project three years on and I have expanded my business to run motivational speaking projects for young people.  I don’t think I would ever have got to this stage without cashpoint.”

Ends

Word Count: 393

Date: 17^TH May 2012

Notes to Editors

To find out more and apply for a vInspired cashpoint grant, visit: www.vInspired.com/cashpoint

• Applications will be accepted from April 2, 2012 until August 2013.  Grants will be awarded for not-for-profit projects that show a clear positive benefit to a community, group or the planet.
• vInspired helps young people to discover the value of volunteering – for themselves and for others. It uses the power of online to inspire offline actions – offering easy-to-access opportunities and support for young people to get involved with good causes in their communities.  Since its launch in May 2006, vInspired has worked with over 500 charities and community organisations and 200 businesses to create over 1 million youth volunteering opportunities.  www.vinspired.org
• The vInspired cashpoint programme is supported by BAA, the Jack Petchey Foundation, the Barrow Cadbury Trust and SAF
• Grants have been given to young people, who have used their creativity and passions to develop projects including stand-up comedy sessions to help young people build their confidence, cycling lessons to give young women from Bangladeshi communities independence, and a community ‘earth ship’ to educate local people about eco-friendly living.