Our new Summer Jobs Programme offers paid summer work placements for 16-25 year olds who are at risk of violence.

The programme will provide young people with direct employment opportunities in with employers in their local area. Young people will gain key skills needed to support future employment opportunities along with being paid for the placement. The six-week programme includes a preparation week and five weeks of work experience, all with the dedicated support of a youth worker.

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An employability programme for NEET young people, which aims to provide them with the essential skills needed for employment and real-life experience through a 4-week work experience programme. The programme includes a series of workshops delivered by youth workers, which will prepare young people for the level of engagement/commitment during work experience. This is then followed by four weeks of work experience at their chosen location.

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Developed through the learning taken from the Reach Up programme (2017-2022), Building Connections is an investment in youth work to create stronger pathways to employment for young people.

In partnership with Coca-Cola Europacific Partners, UK Youth is building the capacity of youth workers as Community Link Workers, supporting them to build partnerships and networks with local businesses and employers and turning those connections into opportunities for young people.

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This programme will support 120 young people a year through an employability skills curriculum. This includes access to a scholarship fund towards additional training courses, or to cover the cost of equipment. The scheme will be delivered through 4 local youth work organisations in Manchester and Liverpool.

Responding to the growing youth mental health crisis, the UK Youth Fund – Thriving Minds will see a £10 million investment by Julia and Hans Rausing channelled into youth work to support young people.

This fund represents youth work coming to the table to tackle mental health – this is about positioning youth work as part of the solution to a crisis in youth mental health, signalling our future commitment to this area and recognising the role of youth work in building better support systems for young people in the UK.

An innovative funding model, which responds directly to need, will see the charity working closely with grantees throughout the three-year period to develop both partnership and capacity building capabilities alongside vital grants. This will ensure they have access to professional development and youth development content, enabling them to provide access to high-quality youth work in their communities and improve young people’s mental health and wellbeing.

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The EmpowHER Legacy was inspired by the EmpowHER programme which was led by UK Youth in partnership with the British Red Cross and Young Women’s Trust, and funded by Spirit of 2012 and the #iwill Fund. The #iwill Fund is made possible thanks to a joint investment from The National Lottery Community Fund and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) to support young people to access high quality social action opportunities. Launched to mark the centenary of women’s suffrage, the programme encouraged young women and girls to use their voices for positive change – just as their predecessors did 100 years ago.

EmpowHER Legacy was a 2-year programme, funded by SPIRIT of 2012, and delivered by UK Youth in partnership with 52 English delivery partners. It’s a multi-strand approach that aims is to transform the way we embed key learnings and best practice established by the EmpowHER programme in the youth sector. The programme involves delivery of three strands designed to test methods for embedding best practice in sustainability of EmpowHER principles.

Taking inspiration from the tenth anniversary of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, Inspire 2022 was a youth-led events-based social action programme which used national events as a springboard for young people to design positive activities for their own communities, bridging community divides and giving young people a voice in a year of national celebration.

It was delivered by UK Youth in partnership with British Red Cross, Youth Action Northern Ireland, Youth Cymru, Youth Scotland and regional youth organisations. It was funded by £1.2m from Spirit of 2012 and £500,000 from the #iwill Fund (a joint investment between The National Lottery Community Fund and Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport), and designed in partnership with Local Trust.

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FutureProof safeguards young people by equipping them with the critical thinking skills needed to stay safe. Our innovative programme, funded by the Monday Charitable Trust, strengthens local youth services and upskills youth workers to better support young people to stay safe, cope with uncertainty and build vital life skills.

FutureProof empowers youth workers to support the changing needs of young people and identify risks young people might experience such as poor mental health, online safety concerns and grooming risks.

Community Food Champions programme, funded by UK Youth and Biteback2030, aimed to empower young people to investigate the challenges they face in accessing healthy and nutritious food in their local area.

Dream it Real in partnership with The Coach Foundation aimed to build young people’s confidence and aspirations and invest in their skills so participants can take the next steps towards their dreams.

A programme by UK Youth, Centre for Mental Health and The Diana Award aiming to reimagine mental health support for young people from racialised communities. The project is led by young co-producers aged 16-25 with a passion for/or lived experience of mental health issues and racial injustices.

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