Organisations in Birmingham can now apply for grants of up to £10,000 for projects that help young people support each other during bereavement. 

Grants are available through the Co-op Foundation’s #iwill Fund. The Foundation expects to make about five grants in total and organisations have until 12pm on Friday 3 April to apply at http://bit.ly/iwill-bereavement.   
 
Successful applicants should use funding for social action projects that equip young people with the skills they need to provide peer support. Grants could also help young people to use their experiences as a way to speak up and recommend how local services can help other bereaved young people. 
 
Co-op Funeralcare is a partner in this latest round of funding. Their involvement is in direct response to findings from its ‘biggest ever survey’, which surveyed over 30,000 people to understand the nation’s experiences and attitudes towards death, dying and bereavement. 
 
The survey found that 16 to 29-year-olds are the age group most likely to bottle up grief*, with just under a quarter (24%) saying they ‘kept it to themselves’ when suffering a bereavement. Young people were also most likely to be left out of social arrangements because of bereavement. 
 
Co-op Foundation has already supported Edward’s Trust through its Building Connections Fund to help them expand their work to tackle youth loneliness among bereaved young people. Yvonne Gilligan, Chief Executive of Edward’s Trust, said:

“Being a bereaved child is a very lonely and isolating place. We ensure that young people have a space to support one another, to care for one another, to share their stories and, most importantly, realise that they’re not alone. Voices of young, bereaved people are not heard; and they need to be.” 
 
The Co-op Foundation’s #iwill Fund supports the aims of the #iwill campaign that wants to make social action a part of life for as many 10 to 20-year-olds as possible. 
 
The Foundation has already invested £2m into tackling youth loneliness through youth social action. Grants available from today form part of a £3m extension that will also see young people campaign to improve community spaces and support each other during the move from primary to secondary school.  
 
Funding also supports Co-op’s community plan, Co-operate 2022, which aims to improve communities’ spaces, skills and wellbeing. Read more about this at coop.co.uk/communities.