Young people planning projects to benefit the community during the Covid-19 outbreak will now be able to tap funds more easily.

Applications and fund disbursement for the Young ChangeMakers grant will now be fast-tracked, said Senior Minister of State for Culture, Community and Youth Sim Ann last Wednesday during a Zoom interview with the media.

Up to half of the approved funds will be given out within seven working days in a special Covid-19 edition of the grant. Before this, it would have taken two to three weeks for the money to be disbursed.

Those aged 15 to 35 have up to Dec 31 to apply for the grant, which is administered by the National Youth Council. Applications need to be submitted at least a week before the project commences, compared with six weeks before previously.

The grant awards up to $5,000, or up to 80 per cent of total project costs, whichever is lower, depending on the project's scale and impact.

Started in 2005, the grant provides funds to young people looking to champion causes that they are passionate about in the community.

"We have also relaxed the funding criteria to make it easier for young people to use this scheme in order to effect plans that help the vulnerable, and also to pursue causes that are very important to them," Ms Sim said.

Previously, the funding from the Young ChangeMakers grant would not cover gifts like food items and supplies, but now, such items that meet community needs like masks and thermometers can be covered.

One project funded by the grant is #codeForCorona, an initiative by three 18-year-olds.

They organised a virtual hackathon on May 9 and 10, where young people created solutions to issues that Singapore is facing during the outbreak, and presented their work to judges for feedback.

Mr Arya Vohra, who recently graduated from United World College, planned the hackathon with two friends, Mr Khush Jammu and Mr Taichi Kato.

The funding from the grant helped to cover logistical and technical costs of organising the hackathon, said Mr Arya. "In times like these, it is difficult to get corporate support for such projects. That's why we really appreciate the grant helping ground-up initiatives like us to enrich the community," he said.

Ms Sim also said $30 million from the National Youth Fund has been set aside over the next five years for Youth Action Plan initiatives.

The Youth Action Plan panel, which Ms Sim co-chairs with Timbre Group co-founder and chief executive Edward Chia, was set up last year to lead efforts to articulate young people's vision for Singapore in 2025, and to come up with an action plan to get there.

In the past year, the panel has pushed for more mental health support and advocated mentoring to help empower young people.

"A lot of our work in the past one year has now been a good foundation for us to actually meet the challenges of Covid-19. Mental health is one thing that has been brought up that has particular importance," said Mr Chia.

Ms Sim said that connecting young people with career advice and mentorship opportunities will be more important in the future, as traditional methods for young people to be connected with job opportunities, such as job fairs and networking sessions, will be curtailed.