Teams of entrepreneurial young leaders from six York schools will be visiting Bishopthorpe Palace as part of their ‘Pitch at the Palace’ enterprise day on Wednesday 18 April from 9.30am.

Each school will present their ‘Make A Difference’ project to experienced enterprise and business leaders before they receive their grant of up to £1,000, from £250 to £1,000, awarded by the Youth Trust working in partnership with York Vikings Rotary.

The Archbishop of York Youth Trust has previously offered grant-making opportunities for youth focused projects across the North since its launch in 2009. This time, however, the MAD grants initiative is designed to let young people identify need in their communities and to make the difference themselves.

Mick Fox from York Vikings Rotary said: “We’re delighted to be partners with the Trust with the provision of these MAD grants. We hope that this will release young people to be changemakers in their communities. By approaching young people directly with this grant opportunity, they can offer a unique on the ground perspective of where their community needs help.”

Last September, local primary and secondary schools were challenged by the Youth Trust to bid for grants which would help ‘Make A Difference’ in and around their wider school communities.  Schools were invited to submit ideas based around community priorities which included: reducing social isolation, improving facilities for young people, creating cleaner and greener communities, improving health and wellbeing.

From the excellent bids submitted for the MAD grants, six projects have been selected by the MAD Grants shortlisting panel because of their successful matching of activity to priority.  Examples include a primary school planning to improve a rundown community space near their school into a useable family green space for the community to enjoy summer together. A secondary school is aiming to provide their community with a mobile defibrillator and the necessary training for its use.

Updates on the development of all six MAD grant projects involving: Manor CE Academy, All Saints RC School, St Barnabas Church of England VC Primary School, Carr Junior School, Lakeside Primary School & Heworth Church of England Primary School will be available through the Youth Trust’s Twitter and Facebook pages throughout 2018, tracking the benefit of each project.