Merseyside YouthBank exists to represent local young people in decision-making, to encourage and support them financially to deliver projects and services that can improve the quality of life for themselves and others living in their areas and to counter the negative perceptions of today's youth by promoting and highlighting the great work that so many young people carry out for the benefit of their local communities. Young people deserve positive recognition and we aim to ensure they get it.

We give young people the opportunity to work together to put projects in motion that will have a positive impact on their local communities. By encouraging young people to engage in projects that they have developed and hope to deliver themselves, they will be less likely to get involved in activities that can earn them a bad reputation; often undeserved. Congregating on street corners, for example, appears threatening but most of the time, it is simply the case that there is nowhere else to go.

Our successful applicants each deliver important projects that can be life-changing, even if they're quite low-key. We aim to give young people a real sense of achievement and to make them aware that their opinions are valid when it comes to making decisions that can enhance the areas they live in and change things for the better. It's about recognising that all youths deserve the chance to have a say in the development of their community and the facilities that are made available to them.