Youth Ocean Action Fund

Removing barriers for the next generation of ocean advocates. 

Got an idea for an ocean advocacy campaign or project that needs some money to get off the ground? Want to attend an event or training to develop your marine skills? 

Our Youth Ocean Action Fund is designed to support young people with bold, innovative ideas for ocean advocacy and help make them a reality. Through this fund, we’re removing financial barriers to spark a fresh wave of youth-led ocean action. 

The fund will support campaigns or other activities that advance youth-led ocean action and skills development related to tackling marine issues (e.g. pollution, fishing, aquaculture, climate change etc). Ideally, your activity will align with at least one of the following themes: 

  • Marine policy advocacy or campaigning 

  • Ocean literacy / public awareness-raising 

  • Connection to the sea, mental well-being 

  • Art, creativity, story-telling and culture 

  • Community-based organising 

  • Skills development & capacity building 

Please read through the information on this page carefully before applying. 

What will the fund support?

Applicants will be able to apply for one of two grants:

Individual Grants

£25 to £150 available

This grant will support individuals living in Scotland with skills development, capacity building or training opportunities related to marine advocacy. This might include event ticket or transport costs, equipment costs, training courses, costs incurred as part of volunteering, or other accessibility needs etc.  

Project/campaign Grants

£100 to £500 available

This grant will support young people to get their marine advocacy projects or campaigns off the ground, whether that’s one-off events or start-up costs for an ongoing activity that is connected to advocacy. All activities must be conducted in Scotland.

The grant types have different deadlines and processes so please make sure you know which fund you are applying to, see details below. If you’re not sure which grant your idea falls into please read the examples below, FAQs at the bottom of this page or get in touch at contact@youthforseas.org if you’re still unsure.

Individual Grants

  • Applications

    Applications for individual grants will be open quarterly (i.e. four times per year) and will have shorter windows than for project/campaign support. There will also be lighter requirements for reporting on your costs etc and won’t require follow up meetings. Have a look through some of our examples for inspiration!

  • Example: Seasearch training course

    This one-day course develops your skills in marine species identification and teaches you how to record your observations and contribute to a nationwide citizen-science project. The techniques learnt can be used for shore surveys, snorkel surveys or dive surveys and the course includes a handy field guide to help with species ID.  See details here.

    Cost: Course fee £80-85  

  • Example: Snorkel Taster Session

    These sessions with COAST are perfect for anyone who’s not snorkelled before or wants to build their skills and confidence in the water, whilst getting a taste of some of the amazing marine life Arran has to offer. See details here.

    Cost: Course fee £35, Travel to Arran ~£30, Accommodation ~£50, Total £115

  • Example: Travel to Sea Scotland 2025

    Sea Scotland is a fantastic event for anyone wanting to get into the world of marine policy and advocacy, an invaluable opportunity for networking and a chance to get to grips with a conference type set-up, all in a supportive environment with other young people. See details here.

    Cost: variable, i.e. Travel from Oban to Edinburgh £30, Accommodation £50,

    Total ~£80

  • Example: Mini Artists' Residency

    Residencies are (usually) short periods of time where artists can develop their creative practice or work on specific projects in a dedicated and inspirational space. You could use the fund to organise a self-directed residency to work on your ocean artwork - whatever that means to you!

    Cost: Accommodation in coastal bothy £50, Travel £50, materials £50, Total: £150

Project/campaign Grants

  • Applications

    Applications will be open once per year and will have a long time to enable you to get inspired and develop your ideas. Reporting requirements for these funds will be higher and the YSCS team will keep in touch with you throughout to ensure you are supported to deliver the activity.

  • Example: Local Shorewatch group

    Train yourself up in whale & dolphin monitoring and set up a regular Shorewatch meet up for your local community to collect regular data on local sightings. Shorewatch training is free and available to do online so the fund could help with initial equipment and advertising costs. See details here.  

    Cost: Binoculars x2 £150, ID guides £30, posters and advertising costs £50, Total £230 

  • Example: Community film night

    Organise a film night showcasing different films about the ocean and ocean campaigns to your local community. Maybe it’s a local filmmaker, a series of shorts or accompanied by a Q&A, films can be a fantastic way to inspire your community to take action.

    Cost: Venue hire £100, advertising/printing costs £50, film rights £100, curator/organiser time £100, Total £350 

  • Example: Student campaign to use sustainable seafood

    Getting together with fellow like-minded students to organise a campaign to get your university, school or college to commit to using only sustainable seafoods in catering outlets, linking up with existing organisations and campaigns (i.e. Open Seas, Off the table etc) for support. This might be an ongoing project that you want to launch using this fund.  

    Cost: Venue hire (usually free at unis), website design £100, advertising/printing costs £100, student survey outreach time £150 Total £350 

  • Example: Ocean exhibition

    Organise an exhibition of your own artwork, other artists or work with Our Seas to bring the Coastal Testimonies photography exhibition to your local community.  Host an exhibition opening with the artist/other speakers to maximise local engagement.

    Cost: Venue for 2 day exhibition £200, curation/logistics £50, refreshments £50, speaker travel/expenses £150, Total £450 

Key Information

Who is eligible to apply

Our grants are open to any young people (aged 16-25) currently living in Scotland. We particularly welcome applications from young people from marginalised backgrounds (including ethnic minorities, working-class, low-income background, those with disabilities/long-term health conditions) as well as young people from geographic areas currently underrepresented in YSCS – Highlands & Islands, Orkney, Shetland.  

How it will work

The aim of our grants is to remove financial barriers, not create them! With this in mind, successful recipients will receive the agreed amount of money direct into their account once awarded funding. 

In order to do this, we will require recipients to read, sign and abide by the rules set out in a Grant Agreement. This is a legal document that will ask recipients to commit to spending the money in the way they intended and committing to providing YSCS with evidence of spend (i.e. receipts, invoices etc) by the agreed period.

Online Q&A sessions

We’ll be hosting two free online Q&A sessions with the YSCS team to go through any questions you might have about our grants, what projects/campaigns are eligible, or how to apply. We’ll also record these sessions and post them here for anyone who can’t attend.

  • Wednesday 7th May, 6-7pm

  • Tuesday 13th May, 1-2pm

The YSCS team is also available to support you to develop your ideas or offer guidance on writing your budget whilst applications are open. If you still have questions after reading this webpage and the FAQs below, please get in touch to chat with the team at contact@youthforseas.org. 

How to apply

Please see below for deadlines for both grant types. All applications should be submitted via an online form, which will ask for details about what you’re applying to spend money on. We will ask for a full-costed budget for the project/campaign grants.  

There are also options in the form to apply via video application or other method if you prefer. Any questions regarding the application process or any access needs can be directed towards contact@youthforseas.org and we’ll make sure you’re supported to apply. 

Individual Grants

Project/Campaign Grants

Timeline & Deadlines

Individual Grants

Applications are open year-round, with funding allocated quarterly (four times per year). You may apply for up to two grants per year, though priority will be given to those who have not previously received funding from us. Please note that funds must be spent within three months of receiving the grant.

2025 deadlines:

Spring round – apps close 26th May 9am 

Summer round – apps close 11th August 9am 

Autumn round – apps close 10th November 9am 

Project/Campaign Grants

All relevant dates and deadlines for the Project/campaign grants are shown here on the timeline.

Please note: applications for this grant will only be open once per year so get your bids in while you can!

✺ Frequently asked questions ✺

  • We are welcoming applications with a very open brief for the first year. As long as your project or campaign idea is related to a marine issue and includes an advocacy element (see the key themes for some ideas), we’d love to hear about it. If you have questions or want to talk through your idea more, please attend one of our online Q&A sessions or get in touch at contact@youthforseas.org. 

  • The Individual grant is specifically for a personal training or skill development opportunity, whereas the Project/campaign grant is for more of a group or organised activity, so is open to applications for more money. If you’re not sure which category your idea fits into please get in touch at contact@youthforseas.org. 

  • It can be tricky! We’d recommend making a spreadsheet which lists all the possible costs associated with your project, and a best guess for how much they’d be. Make sure you include everything you need to deliver the project. Try researching similar products, travel options or even getting in touch with venues to find out hire costs. Again, if you need any support with this, please get in touch.  

  • Applications will be assessed against the following criteria: 

    • Is the project or campaign in line with the key themes of the fund? 

    • Is the project or campaign realistic (both in terms of timeline and money needed)? 

    • Does the project support YSCS’s general ethos? 

    Applications will be assessed anonymously to minimise any unconscious bias and will be assessed by a panel comprising YSCS staff and young trustees.  

  • For project/campaign grants:
    If you don’t receive a grant this year, don’t be discouraged! Our funding is limited, so while we may have loved your idea, we simply couldn’t support it this time. You’re welcome to reapply with the same project or campaign in a future application round. If it’s still unsuccessful, we encourage you to explore new ideas or consider other funding opportunities that may be a better fit.

    For individual grants:
    If your application isn’t successful, you’re welcome to reapply in the next application round.

  • For project/campaign grants:
    Funds must be spent, and receipts submitted by December 2025. The exact deadline will be specified in your grant agreement.

    For individual grants:
    You will have three months from the date you receive the funds to spend them. As with project grants, the exact deadline will be outlined in your grant agreement.

  • No, once you’ve been awarded funding you will need to spend the money on what you’ve told us it’s for. Of course, we understand sometimes projects might need to adapt to new circumstances, so we will support you with any changes, however the core of the project or campaign must remain the same. If you are no longer able to deliver your project you must return the funds.  

  • We collect equal opportunities information (i.e. questions on race, class, gender, disability etc) for everything we do, so we can understand how accessible, inclusive and diverse our activities are, and make sure we’re engaging with young people from all backgrounds.  

    For the Ocean Action Fund, we will collect this data in your application form, however it will be separated from your application for review. We will follow our data Privacy Policy and all information will be kept confidential. 

  • All applications will be assessed on merit and alignment with the criteria above. If two applications have the same number of points, we may award an additional point to applicants from underrepresented backgrounds / identities (see above).  This is called ‘positive action’. 

    This is because these groups are currently underrepresented in the marine sector and YSCS in general, and we want to address these inequalities as best we can.  

  • In short, yes. The fund is open to young people specifically to support youth-led action. If you have an idea to support an existing (non-youth-led) project, that is fine but the key activity must be driven and organised by young people.  

  • If you are awarded a project/campaign grant, we’ll arrange a kick-off meeting with you and the YSCS team to discuss your project idea and the support you might need. Some projects might require regular check-ins , while others might only need a conversation after the project is complete – it will totally depend on your needs. Individual grants will generally not require a meeting unless it’s required by the recipient.

  • You’ll need to provide evidence of all your expenses, equal to the sum of money you applied for/received. This will be set out in our Grant Agreement but will most likely be receipts and invoices – so remember to keep all your documents! 

  • We would love to hear how you used the money and what impact it had on you, your community or the ocean. We will invite all recipients to contribute a blog or social media post, presentation or something else to share their experience and help promote the fund for next year.