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Awarding funds thanks to players of People's Postcode Lottery
  • Awarded £145,000 (50% loan, 50% grant)

Back to Funded Social Enterprises

Volunteer It Yourself

Volunteer It Yourself (VIY) combines DIY and volunteering by challenging young people aged 14-24 to help repair and refurbish youth and community buildings and facilities, whilst learning vocational trade skills on the job. Young people are mentored by professional tradespeople, and gain Entry Level City & Guilds trade skills accreditations at the same time as developing broader employability skills. The majority of young people who take part are disengaged (or at risk of disengagement) from mainstream education and training, and/or unemployed.

Since 2011, 10,000+ young people have volunteered at 500+ VIY projects UK-wide, supported by 1,000+ trade skills mentors. Outcomes include 40% of all participants achieving an Entry Level 3 City & Guilds skills qualification and 30% of NEET participants aged 16+ progressing directly to further training or employment. 65% of participants also report increased confidence levels across seven key personal skills linked to employability.

VIY projects can vary in duration from just a couple of days to 3-4 months, depending on the scope and scale of work required. Project sites comprise buildings and facilities that young people use and benefit from, including youth clubs, community centres, schools and colleges, sports clubs, music and arts venues, and supported housing – and all projects involve young volunteers and their mentors undertaking refurbishment and improvement works that the venues would otherwise struggle to make happen.

Social investment from Postcode Innovation Trust will be used to grow VIY's organisational resources and capacity to deliver at greater scale throughout the UK – and so enabling them to deliver new ‘high volume’ work already secured and also attract/deliver against new business/new traded income. They are aiming to:

  • Extend their social impact through the delivery of 500+ new projects involving and benefitting 10,000+ young people over the next three years
  • Grow total annual revenue 
  • Increase traded income (as a percentage of total revenue)

Visit their website here: https://volunteerityourself.org/