We Rise Together!

City of Culture and Children's University - Community Membership Scheme

Expression of Interest Form

Wrexham & Flintshire Children’s University has been successful in applying for a grant from the City of Culture team, located at Wrexham County Borough Council in recognition of the City of Culture 2025 bid, where Wrexham were placed as a runner up.

Through the grant, we are able to offer 20 community groups, who work with young people aged 8 to 16 years, across Wrexham County Borough.

The grant will fund 30 young people, per community group, to become members of the Children’s University for one year, without cost.

Each young person will receive a

• Special edition Passport to Learning
• A CU Online account
• Certificates for achieving 30 and 65 hours
• An invitation to attend a Graduation Ceremony at 100 hours 

Each staff member will receive

• Training
• Template letters
• A CU Online account
• Support throughout the year

Each group will have to commit to appointing a dedicated CU coordinator with good IT and communication skills who will be responsible for the in-house organisation of the scheme.

To apply for one of the free places, please complete the expression of interest form by the deadline - 6th January 2023.

Please note that completion of the form does not guarantee your group a space in the scheme.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is my group eligible to apply?

If you work with young people from age 8 to 16 years and offer activities where learning takes place and taking part is optional, we can work with you.

Each group will have to commit to appointing a dedicated CU coordinator with good IT and communication skills who will be responsible for the in-house organisation of the scheme.

Private businesses and statutory bodies (such as local authorities, community or town councils) will not be eligible to apply to this scheme.

To be eligible to apply, the applicant must be a constituted and established voluntary organisation or community group and have a bank or building society account in the name of the organisation.

Who should take part?

Your group will be able to choose which young people are to take part in the scheme, but we do ask that consideration be given to;

• Children entitled to Free School Meals
• Children who are Looked After
• Children with Additional Learning Needs
• Children who have English as an Additional Language
• Children with disabilities
• Children in families where no parent/carer has been to University
• Children who are at risk of disengaging from school
• Young carers
• Children who are neuro-diverse
• Children who are overweight
• Children who are experiencing mental health problems
• Children who are displaying challenging behaviours
• Children who are members of the Gypsy, Roma or Irish Traveller communities
• Children who are members of an ethnic minority group (Black, Asian, minority ethnic group or of multi-cultural heritage).

What happens next?

Please complete the expression of interest form which can be found here by no later than 17:30 on 06.01.23

Applications will be scored objectively by a panel.

You will be notified of the outcome of your application by email, the week commencing 23.01.23

Enquiries regarding the scheme can be sent to childrens.university@glyndwr.ac.uk

If selected, the Children’s University team will agree with you, dates on which training, paperwork and the launch will be completed. These tasks must be completed by March 2023 to be eligible for the grant.

What happens after the year ends?

The young people involved will be able to keep their Passports to Learning and will be encouraged to investigate the activities provided in the wider community by validated Learning Destinations. 

Groups who choose to continue will be advised of the annual membership fee that will be payable once the free year ends.