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Leading charities join forces to tackle social mobility

1 September 2017

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After careful consideration, it has been agreed that Ambition will become a subsidiary of UK Youth. The move will allow us to closely collaborate while maintaining our individual assets and activities. This will ensure we are best placed to help more young people to access appropriate, high quality services in their community or online, in order to develop life skills and engage with training, volunteering and employment.

Both charities have a long history of supporting young people and the youth sector thanks to our common heritage as the National Organisation of Girls’ Clubs (UK Youth) and The National Association of Boys’ Clubs (Ambition) which reaches back over 90 years.

The merger is something many of our beneficiaries, members and stakeholders have been asking for in recent years. As two leading charities offering complementary services to youth organisations, young people and the sector, this move has been widely welcomed.

Anna Smee, CEO of UK Youth, said: “This is an exciting time for UK Youth and Ambition to be coming together. We have a shared commitment to empowering young people and working in partnership with local, regional and national youth organisations to deliver high quality services that meet their needs. This puts us in a unique position to respond to the challenges young people face today, including low levels of social mobility that prevent so many from reaching their full potential. Together we will be able to amplify the voices of more young people and respond to their needs by forging wider partnerships to deliver joined up services in local communities.”

Emma Revie, CEO of Ambition said: “We’re passionate about supporting youth organisations to provide high quality services for young people, whatever their background or circumstance. By joining forces with UK Youth, I’m confident we have the potential to be greater together than the sum of our parts and I’m excited to see what we can achieve.”

Tracy Crouch, Minister for Sport and Civil Society said “UK Youth and Ambition have both done fantastic work supporting young people across the country and I am confident that this partnership will only strengthen their offering. Together I’m sure they will continue to lead the way championing youth voices, and supporting innovation and partnerships.”

Tracy Clarke, Chief Executive of Young Gloucestershire, said: “I have been vocal about my belief that it would be in the best interest of the youth sector and the young people we serve for Ambition and UK Youth to merge. The services provided, member support and relationships both organisations hold on behalf of the sector are valued and cherished, as one organisation I believe they will be stronger, have clearer strategic direction and provide better value for money. I am not alone in the belief that the way to realise the best future in our sector is through more collaboration of this kind. I am grateful to Anna and Emma for the work they have done to get Ambition and UK Youth to this stage and look forward to what the future will bring.”

Thomas Lawson, Chief Executive of Leap Confronting Conflict, said: “The merger of Ambition and UK Youth will be a massive boon for the sector.  Now, more than ever, we need a more unified voice to build understanding of the value of investing in the talent and potential of all young people.  This merger will go a long way to achieving that.”

Together with Ambition, we will now launch a consultation process with our members to shape their priorities for 2018 and ensure that in partnership with local, regional and national youth organisations from across the UK they are offering the best services to young people to tackle social mobility and build bright futures.

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