A £1.7 million fund has been launched to increase opportunities for young people who want to improve their communities.

The Virgin Money Foundation and Big Lottery Fund have set up the social action programme and have launched it with five grants worth £743,000 to groups in the North-East.

The #IWill Take Action fund for the North-East is a three year programme to increase opportunities for young people aged between 10 and 20 and is aimed at getting them to volunteer, fundraise and campaign on issues that are important to them.

Nancy Doyle-Hall, director of The Virgin Money Foundation said: “The Virgin Money Foundation aims to ask people ‘what do you see for your local community?’ and then provide resources and support to make their vision a reality. As an #iwill match-funder, we will seek to ensure that young people across the North East have a voice and an opportunity to work together and drive positive change in their communities.”

Gemma Bull, England Director, Big Lottery Fund said: “This new partnership with The Virgin Money Foundation, as part of the #iwill fund, provides an exciting opportunity to support young people to develop their skills and confidence.”

The groups to benefit so far include Middlesbrough Football Club Foundation, Groundwork North East and Cumbria, Gateshead based charity Youth Focus North East, The Key and the Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art, in Gateshead.

Middlesbrough Football Club Foundation has been given £150,000 for its project aimed at supporting young people through a three stage social action programme focussing on health and wellbeing.

Helena Bowman, head of the foundation said: “The grant will ensure that we can raise aspirations of local young people and support them to become more active citizens who will make positive changes to the lives of local communities in Teesside.”

Other projects include creating opportunities to explore cultural identities, look after the environment and tackle local issues.

The Virgin Money Foundation and the Big Lottery Fund have each invested £850,000 to the North-East fund.

The #iwill fund is a national programme, which has had a £20million investment from the Government’s Department of Culture, Media and Sport and £20million from the Big Lottery Fund.