The government has awarded £1.2m to nine organisations working with youngsters in deprived or rural areas.

The nine organisations from across England have been awarded the money as part of the National Youth Social Action Fund.

Run jointly with Pears Foundation, the fund is committed to helping young people in deprived or rural areas to get involved in social action.

Successful applicants are a mixture of national and local organisations.

The funding will go towards developing social action opportunities for over 20,000 young people across England and provide them with an opportunity to learn from activities and share good practice.

Civil society minister Rob Wilson, said the government was committed to building a more compassionate society.

"I warmly congratulate all the successful applicants to this round of funding from the Youth Social Action Fund," he said.

The money provided by the Cabinet Office and generously matched by the Pears Foundation will enable organisations to tackle the challenges facing young people in rural or disadvantaged areas and help embed social action in their lives."

Pears Foundation chairman Trevor Pears  said the level of interest in the fund indicateed that support in this area was much-needed.

"We're delighted to have been able to select a great variety of very high-quality projects," he added.

"We look forward to working with these organisations as they develop their projects, and look forward to sharing and disseminating their learning across the sector.

The funding will support youth social action opportunities based on results from the 2014 Youth Social Action Survey.