The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has announced £15 million of new investment in youth projects and programmes that are predominately in the capital’s high-crime areas in a move which will provide positive opportunities for up to 40,000 young Londoners.

Starting today, community groups and projects can apply for the next wave of the Mayor’s Young Londoners Fund, with £15m available to support these vital services in giving young Londoners a chance to shape their future.

The Young Londoners Fund is part of a package of measures aimed at encouraging young people to make the right choices and, for some, diverting them away from criminality and anti-social behaviour.

The announcement follows £20.5m of City Hall investment last year from the Young Londoners Fund, that is already benefitting 66,000 young Londoners, offering better life opportunities for teenagers and children in the capital.

Such is the appetite for youth services, in the last round of City Hall funding more than 450 applications asking for investment of over £120m were received from projects that support children and young people aged between 10-21.

There are hundreds of activities for young Londoners to get involved in across the capital, which will provide the key skills they need to reach their full potential. Details can be found on an interactive map hosted on the City Hall website at www.london.gov.uk/our-london. Local networks have been setup across London to provide advice and guidance to organisations applying to round two of the fund, including local information sessions.