20 December 2007 MP Encourages Young Volunteers to Put Their Ideas Into Action This New Year, MP Oliver Heald, is encouraging young people in North East Hertfordshire to apply for funding from a new youth-fund called vcashpoint. vcashpoint is a £1 million initiative run by the youth volunteering charity v, in partnership with HSBC Bank which is offering grants of up to £2,500 to young people aged 16-25 who want to set up and run activities that will make a positive difference in their community.  The first round of vcashpoint grants was awarded earlier this year, with 72 successful applicants securing £130,000 of grants. A further three rounds of grants has now been announced with £870,000 available. This is expected to fund between 300 and 400 additional community projects across England. Young people can find the full vcashpoint application details and eligibility criteria at www.vinspired.com. Application deadlines for the forthcoming rounds of funding are as follows: • 1 February 2008 (Round 2) • 25 April 2008 (Round 3) • 18 July 2008 (Round 4) vcashpoint projects from round one of the funding have met a wide variety of local community needs, including: • Co-ordinating football training and a tournament for disadvantaged young people • Arranging fun and educational trips for children with special needs • Improving communal leisure areas on a housing estate Local Youth-Workers and other adults working with young people can also access a brainstorming kit ‘Outside the Box’ that can be used to get people thinking creatively about project ideas. This can be downloaded from www.wearev.com  vcashpoint recipient Mohammed Walji from Wembley led a Community Sports Day project and said: “Being able to run my own project was a fantastic experience. Everyone really enjoyed themselves and it was so rewarding to know I’d really made a difference in my local community. By encouraging young people like me to develop their own ideas into successful projects, v is helping to inspire a new generation of young volunteers and I’d highly recommend other young people to take this opportunity to run their own vcashpoint projects too.” Russell Brooks a member of v20, from Enfield, North London said: “I have been so impressed by the creativity of the projects and the way they meet a community need which the volunteers have identified. vcashpoint is a great opportunity for young people to act on what is important to them and to be given the backing to make their ideas come to life.”