A Greater London youth-led movement has received close to £495,000 to continue its work empowering young leaders through ‘Democracy Cafés’.
My Life My Say is passionate about helping young people find their voice and take part in vital community decision making. Its new funding comes from The National Lottery Community Fund, the largest community funder in the UK.
My Life My Say’s award-winning Democracy Cafés are a tribute to the 17th-century coffee house tradition, where members of society would come together and discuss local issues.
Over the years, the organisation has held over 700 cafés, reaching over 40,000 young people. The cafés have also spread far from London, taking place in towns and cities across the UK, including Aberdeen, Blackburn, Cardiff, Derry/Londonderry and Portsmouth.
Mete Coban, CEO of My Life My Say said: “My Life My Say began 11 years ago and was born out of a passion young people had about where they were from. However, there was also a deep-seated feeling their voices didn’t matter. So, we wanted to create spaces where young people can come together and feel connected to their communities and have active conversations about what they aspire to be and what the future of their neighbourhoods and country looks like.”
The project is completely participant-led, with the cafés taking place in venues where young people would ordinarily hang out or want to socialise. Instead of using guest speakers, the project puts speaking responsibilities in the hands of young people, and encourages informal conversations about how to solve some of the biggest challenges facing the country.
Taking part empowers young people to increase their confidence, improve their skills in debating and develop their understanding of civic engagement.
Mete Coban added: “Thanks to National Lottery players, this funding will enable us to be far more strategic and proactive. We’re only a small organisation, so this funding has given us the headspace to think about the future and how we perfect what we do. It will have a huge impact.”
Helen Bushell, Head of Regional Funding for London, the South East and East of England at The National Lottery Community Fund, said: “We’re proud to support amazing projects like My Life My Say, which strengthen society and help young people thrive.
“Our latest Corporate Plan sets out our commitment to invest more than 90% of our grants to support at least one our four community-led missions: to enable communities to come together, be environmentally sustainable, live healthier lives and to support children and young people to thrive.
“Over the next three years, we will dedicate more than 50% of our grants in communities experiencing greatest poverty and disadvantage.”
My Life My Say is one of over 1,000 charities and community groups across London and the South East of England to have received a share of over £52 million of National Lottery funding over the last four months. Across England, almost £203 million has been distributed to almost 4,000 community organisations in same time period.*
National Lottery players raise over £30 million a week for good causes across the UK. Thanks to them, last year The National Lottery Community Fund was able to distribute over half a billion pounds (£615.4 million) of life-changing funding to communities.
