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"Bolton announces £1.4M for young people's activities"
September 13 2007 - Bolton Council

More than 3,500 young people in Bolton will have up to £1.4 million to spend on a range of positive activities following a decision by the Government to enable Bolton Council to develop and launch a young people's smart card.

The announcement made today by Beverley Hughes MP, Minister for Children, Schools and Families, has followed months of negotiations between the Department for Children, Schools and Families and the local authorities initially selected to pilot a proposed National Youth Opportunity Card. Following the cancellation of that project, due to the potential technological costs, Bolton and the other original pilot authorities were invited to submit their own local proposals 'to empower disadvantaged young people to take part in individual activities of their own choice'.

Bolton's successful proposal will be based around an extension to the existing 'Bolton Smart' card, scheme, but to include a specific e-purse facility, provided by sQuidcard, the e-money provider. Those young people, aged 13 to 16 who are either in receipt of free school meals or looked after (in foster care) will have £35 per month uploaded to the card to be spent on activities of their choice at registered providers including leisure centres, museums and theatres. Other young people will also be able to register and to load money onto the card themselves to access activities. In addition the sQuidcard purse will further enable all Bolton Smart card holders to make 'tap and go' payments for newspapers, coffee, and other low-value purchases, a great opportunity for parents and carer to load the card for everyday expenses. Proposals are also in hand to enable payments for bus travel on Arriva services in the Bolton area in the near future.

In welcoming the award of £1.4m from the DCSF, Councillor John Byrne, Bolton Council Executive Member for Young People and Sport commented: "Anti-social behaviour amongst young people is often fuelled by complaints of boredom and lack of opportunity to take part in activities. We have already announced an initiative to allow free swimming at leisure centres for all under 16s. This project will take this a step further by allowing young people across Bolton, especially those from disadvantaged backgrounds, to take part in a range of positive activities.

As both the card and the activities will be developed in conjunction with young people for young people, we are confident that it will become a useful and popular way for them to boost their confidence by taking part in new activities."

Adam Smith, CEO of sQuidcard commented: "This is a great initiative for Bolton and it has potential to expand elsewhere. We are delighted to be doing our part to help provide positive activities for young people. It's further evidence that electronic money is becoming a reality, and it proves that small payments services should not be the sole domain of the banks and credit card companies. Focused providers like sQuidcard have a big role to play in this area."

Beverley Hughes, Young People's Minister commented: "Young people are more likely to be the victims of crime than any other group and they tell us that they don't feel safe in their communities. We want to give them the opportunity to take part in positive activities and to have somewhere safe for them to do that.

"Some young people tell us that they have to overcome difficult obstacles in order to access youth activities, including lack of money, and that this can prevent them from participating as they would like.

"These are much more likely to be young people from disadvantaged backgrounds who cannot afford to take part and face the prospect of having nothing to do. That's why these pilots are so important in testing different ways of extending the same opportunities to all - opportunities which are not only fun, but can boost young people's confidence and consequently their chances of doing well in life."

Bolton Council will now begin working with young people on developing the card and in identifying the activities and providers to be part of the scheme, with the intention to launch the scheme by April next year. The young people the card is aimed at will take part in the development, branding and marketing of the card.

Each pilot will test different ways to overcome the various financial barriers to participation that young people in their area may face and findings will be shared with other Local Authorities when they finish. The pilots will run until March 2009 and are one element of the Government's plans for empowering young people and helping to keep them safe.

 

 

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