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The Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, Katherine Zappone, today announced that funding allocations have been approved for the youth funding scheme, UBU - Your Place Your Space, enabling the scheme to proceed as planned on 1 July.

UBU - Your Place Your Space provides funding to youth services that support young people to develop the personal and social skills required to improve their life chances. This includes services covering health and wellbeing, education, employment and social connectedness. The scheme will target young people aged between 10 – 24 years who are experiencing economic, social and cultural disadvantage.

Following a successful application process, letters of allocation issued today to all Education and Training Boards (ETBs) who administer funds to successful youth services on behalf of the Minister.

Acknowledging the deep commitment by the applicant organisations and Education and Training Boards to the process Minister Zappone said:

I greatly appreciate the efforts, particularly in these difficult times, of the ETBs and youth organisations to ensure that we can open UBU - Your Place Your Space on time on 1 July.  I thank the youth officers and ETB co-ordination committees who have worked so hard under the Covid-19 restrictions to keep the process on track.  This represents the completion of a major reform of funding for targeted youth services and it was achieved in the midst of unprecedented restrictions due to Covid-19.

The youth sector has responded heroically to the current crisis, adapting and innovating in order to maintain supports for vulnerable young people.  The funding announced today, coupled with the youth sector guidance which I published on 2 June, ensures that such services can continue to deliver on this important work throughout the year ahead within the robust framework of the new UBU - Your Place Your Space scheme.

Notes for Editors:

UBU - Your Place, Your Space

In December 2019, Minister Zappone launched a major new youth funding scheme, UBU - Your Place Your Space (https://ubu.gov.ie/).  This followed extensive work and consultations with the sector.  The scheme was designed in collaboration with young people, the youth sector and Educations and Training Boards over the last five years and streamlines and strengthens previous targeted youth funding arrangements.

The first cycle of UBU - Your Place Your Space runs to December 2023, incorporating a new reporting and continuous improvement approach as part of the model.

Budget 2020

Funding for targeted youth services announced in Budget 2020 was a provision of €38.7 million for the full year.

Development outcomes

The outcomes sought by UBU - Your Place Your Space are informed by the high-level national outcome areas set out in Better Outcomes Brighter Futures (BOBF) and the corresponding

objectives in the National Youth Strategy.

The specific seven personal and social development skills encompassed within the provision of UBU Your Place Your Space are:

• Communication skills;
• Confidence and agency;
• Planning and problem-solving;
• Relationships;
• Creativity and imagination;
• Resilience and determination; and
• Emotional intelligence.

Role of Education and Training Boards (ETBs)

The Education and Training Boards are the funding intermediaries for UBU - Your Place Your Space.  Under the Education and Training Boards Act 2013, the ETBs have a statutory role with youth services in their functional area.

Allocations notified to ETBs as of 8 June 2020