UK Youth joins calls to ensure Young Futures Hubs have ‘impact that lasts’

UK Youth has backed a series of key recommendations to ensure the Government’s planned Young Futures Hubs are a success. 

The national youth work charity has previously welcomed the Labour Government’s commitment to “develop a national network of Young Futures hubs to bring local services together, deliver support for teenagers at risk of being drawn into crime or facing mental health challenges and, where appropriate, deliver universal youth provision”, with youth workers, mental health support workers, and careers advisers on hand to support young people. 

And at the recent Labour Party conference, UK Youth led a panel discussion about Young Futures in the conference’s youth zone, featuring #iwill ambassadors alongside experts in the field, including youth minister Stephanie Peacock.  

Kate Roberts, UK Youth policy and influencing manager, who was in attendance, said: “It was good to hear the Government’s ambitions for this programme and to think in depth about what we need to see happen to make it a success. Front and centre of this conversation was the need for the voices of young people and youth organisations to be involved in the design of the programme and its services.” 

Now The Open University and Public Health Youth & Violence Reduction have published a series of recommendations to ensure the proposed hubs are a success. 

The document, Impact that lasts: Ensuring Young Futures Hubs fulfil their potential, based on academic research, including UK Youth’s 2018 study into youth loneliness, A Place to Belong, and the four-year Public Health, Youth and Violence Reduction study, has highlighted five “key principles for the success of Young Futures Hubs”. 

Report author Luke Billingham said: “At best, Young Futures Hubs could make a profound difference to young people across the country.  

“First and foremost, on the most basic level, they must be places young people are happy to go to, to see people they are happy to speak with. Without that, they will fail.  

“At best, they should be accessible, welcoming, permanent spaces, much-loved by young people of all backgrounds, providing services and support which are: well-tailored to local needs; well-integrated into other local provision; and delivered by deeply passionate and highly skilled people, who work effectively in inter-disciplinary teams.  

“However, the success of Young Futures Hubs is far from guaranteed. There are a range of factors which could impede or limit their effectiveness – factors which have all-too-often undermined other forms of youth provision in recent years. It is vital these new Hubs do not repeat past mistakes.” 

The headline recommendations for the success of the hubs are:  

UK Youth is among a range of national and local organisations spanning the youth work, youth advocacy, youth justice, mental health, criminal justice and housing support sectors to endorse the plan, including the National Youth Agency, The Howard League for Penal Reform and The Children’s Society. 

Ndidi Okezie OBE, UK Youth chief executive officer, said: “This is a positive report which we are proud to endorse and one we urge the government to take note of and act on. 

“We have long campaigned for the youth voice to be front and centre when it comes to designing services for young people, allowing young people to have a proper say in the things that affect them. 

“It is positive to see the role of youth workers being central to Young Futures Hubs and we welcome the Government seeing youth workers as essential roles in the support system available to young people.  

“However, there is a crisis in recruitment for youth workers in the UK, following more than a decade of severe cuts to the youth sector. Successful implementation of the hubs will also require upstream efforts to bring in new cohorts of youth workers and invest in the leadership skills of the existing workforce.“ 

To read the briefing in full, click here.  

UK Youth is a leading charity with a vision that all young people are equipped to thrive and empowered to contribute at every stage of their lives. With an open network of more than 9,000 youth organisations and nation partners; UK Youth reaches more than four million young people across the UK and is focused on unlocking youth work as the catalyst of change that is needed now more than ever. To find out more, visit ukyouth.org 

UK Youth is involved in a range of programmes designed to help young people thrive, such as outdoor learning, physical literacy, social action and employability, including Hatch, a youth employability programme run in partnership with KFC. For more on UK Youth’s programmes, see ukyouth.org/what-we-do/programmes

#iwill is a movement comprised of more than 1,000 organisations and 700 young #iwill Ambassadors & Champions from across the UK. They are united by a shared belief that all children and young people should be supported and empowered to make a positive difference on the issues that affect their livers, their communities, and broader society.

#iwill is empowering, challenging, independent, collaborative and inclusive – it belongs to everybody.

The #iwill movement is powered by young people and organisations. The #iwill Ambassadors and #iwill Champions, alongside organisations who sign up to the Power of Youth Charter, help ensure meaningful action is taken to support more children and young people to be active citizens.

The #iwill Partnership is made up of leaders of collective action groups working within and across sectors and nations of the UK to guide the #iwill movement. The independent #iwill Coordination Hub, hosted by Volunteering Matters and UK Youth supports the #iwill Partnership, #iwill Ambassadors and broader #iwill movement.