UK Youth launches new support for the youth sector

To mark our merger with Ambition, UK Youth hosted a day of events in Parliament to announce our extended support for the youth sector.

The events, hosted at the House of Commons and House of Lords, were attended by the Minister of Sport & Civil Society, Tracey Crouch; Shadow Minister for Civil Society & Young People, Steve Reed and other high-profile MPs, and saw vibrant debates on the evolution of the youth sector, the need to tackle Britain’s social mobility problem and the importance of youth voices.

To kick start the day, we announced the findings of our State of the Membership report, which summarises UK Youth’s national consultation, following our merger with Ambition, and research with organisations working with young people across the country. The report highlights current youth sector workforce trends, the changing financial position of organisations and the challenges facing the sector.

The report found that the following challenges were evident for all organisations working with or for young people, regardless of their delivery model:

1. Funding and sustainability of sector
2. Having a voice and influencing policy at a national level
3. Workforce recruitment & development (affording staff, training and development staff & volunteers)
4. Accessing networking & collaboration opportunities
5. Managing data & demonstrating impact

In light of this new research, today we announced our new commitment to the sector, created with and for our members. The new commitment focusses on five key areas:

• Diversifying funding: Unlocking national and regional funding for grassroots programme delivery as well as supporting organisations working with young people to explore innovative and sustainable sources of income
• Championing youth: Working with youth services and their young people to amplify issues affecting young people and the youth sector today to drive change on a national scale.
• Strengthening quality: Supporting organisations working with young people to strengthen the quality of services they deliver through training, accreditation, resources and expert advice.
• Harnessing impact: Being at the forefront of effective impact measurement to help youth services respond to changing needs in the sector and advocate the value of the work the youth sector does.
• Building community: Bringing youth organisations together to collaborate and recognise excellence in each other’s services and maximising effectiveness on behalf of young people.

Our extension of support for the sector was well received at the launch event, which was attended by over 100 people representing the youth sector, key sector funders and MPs.

All organisations working with or for young people can join our movement and be part of something bigger. Find out more about our new membership offer here.

ENDS

For more information, please contact:

Emma Roberts, Head of Marketing and Communications, UK Youth:

Emma.roberts@ukyouth.org | 07455 554 690

About UK Youth:

Founded in 1911, UK Youth provides young people aged 9-25 with high quality services, delivered through a network of locally accessible youth organisations across the UK. Together we offer support, advice and training to over four million young people to equip them with vital life skills and help them engage in education, volunteering and employment. Our mission is to provide access to appropriate, high quality services for young people in every community so that all young people are empowered to build bright futures, regardless of their background or circumstances.