Faith groups get youth development grants

Faith-based organisation which are set to benefit from the grant. (Photo Credit: Lourianne Graham) Young people across Barbados are set to gain access to new development programmes after 10 faith-based organisations became the first recipients of funding under the government’s $5m grant programme. The organisations were named on Thursday following the submission of 26 proposals to the Ministry of Labour, Social Security and the Third Sector earlier this year, after the launch of the initiative. The first group of grant recipients consists of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Bridgetown, Gospel Lighthouse, United Church of America Inc., Melchizedek Ministries, Kingdom First International Church Inc., Combined Faith Christian Sports Evangelism Ministry, New Testament Church of God Barbados, Methodist Church of Barbados, East Caribbean Conference of Seventh-day Adventists and Kingdom Life Ministries. Minister of the Third Sector Colin Jordan urged young people to make the most of the opportunities that will emerge from the programmes. Ministry of Labour, Social Security and the Third Sector Colin Jordan. (Photo Credit: Lourianne Graham) “The organisations that we’ve awarded are spread across the country, and we expect that wherever the programmes manifest themselves, wherever they’re conducted, wherever they’re executed, that our young people will grab hold of them to the extent that the organisations will come back to say, there is so much, We want to hear though that there are so many young people who are accessing these programmes that we need more funds to build out to impact even more of our young people.” Jordan said the common thread among all ten projects was improving the lives and wellbeing of young people, developing their talents and helping them to make positive choices. You Might Be Interested In The initiative fulfilled a commitment made in the 2026 manifesto to young people and faith-based organisations, he said. “Faith-based organisations are able to, through impactful proposals and the execution of those proposals, engage our young people in meaningful activity, with the understanding that we are building those young people, that we are building their families, building their communities, and allowing them to create pathways for their own personal, social, and economic development and empowerment.” The minister said the grants also represented a commitment to national development through partnerships with organisations not involved in political activity. “We want to see a country of young people who are realising their potential, their skills, their aptitudes. We want to see young people who are confident. We want to see young people who are productive. We want to see young people who are hopeful. “The lack of hope produces a lot of the challenges that we see. Out of your programmes, we expect to feel and see an increase in the level of hope among our young people. So this is a moment to celebrate.” Jordan said tackling youth challenges required the involvement of families, communities, schools and other stakeholders. Faith-based organisations played an important role in building a good society because their values could have a strong impact, he added. “It is from you that values have more resonance, and I phrase it that way because it is not necessarily that you are the only ones who share values. However, because you’re faith-based organisations, it resonates more. It is received by the public, by our population, maybe in a different way, from those who may not be of faith.” Jordan outlined the work of the evaluation and monitoring committee, which assessed the potential impact of the proposed programmes and the organisations’ capacity to implement them effectively. He said six additional proposals had been deferred but could still be approved later this year. “We recognise that some organisations may have strong ideas and ideas that have the potential to make significant positive and meaningful impact, but may require some support in terms of strengthening the proposal, clarifying the goals, identifying the objectives well, and developing a plan for implementation.” The minister further explained to the media that, in some cases, the committee had identified projects with greater potential than was presented and would work with the relevant teams to develop them further. The evaluation and monitoring committee will continuously monitor all approved projects to ensure they remain in line with the agreed goals and objectives. The Ministry of Finance is to distribute the funding. (LG)