Government invites bids for share of £368m youth services fund
Joe Lepper
Wednesday, August 3, 2022
Youth services in disadvantaged areas are being invited to bid for a share of £368m, being released to the sector through the government’s Youth Investment Fund.
The funding is being targeted at supporting youth services in England’s most deprived 600 wards across 45 council areas.
It is being released through a combination of capital investment and funding to meet resource costs and aims to focus on refurbishing up to 300 youth facilities over the next three years.
The Youth Investment Fund forms part of the government’s £560m National Youth Guarantee to provide regular out of school activities.
Another focus of the fund is on backing youth provision that supports young people into employment.
The fund was first announced in 2019, as part of the Conservative Party’s election manifesto.
But it has been beset by delays with youth services campaigners long calling for funding to be released. These calls were heightened two years ago to offer urgent help to youth services struggling with the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.
In addition, it had originally planned to total £500m but has since been scaled back.
The distribution of the funding also comes amid a slashing of youth services budgets by £1.1bn over the last decade, according to analysis published by the YMCA in December last year. The charity found that youth services had been hit by real terms cut of 74 per cent in investment since 2010/11.
This latest release of investment follows the awarding of an initial £12m from the Fund in May for more than 400 youth services.
This was administered by BBC Children in Need and included a £32,000 award to IMO (Inspire, Motivate, Overcome) Charity in Blackburn and Darwen to furnish a youth hub for young people struggling with mental health challenges and poverty.
NEWS: £368 million fund to improve youth services in England opens
— DCMS (@DCMS) August 1, 2022
Youth services across 45 local authorities and 600+ district wards with poor provision across England encouraged to apply
Submit an expression of interest to the Youth Investment Fund ⬇️https://t.co/cEnlai72HG
The current tranche of funding is being delivered by Social Investment Business (SIB) in partnership with the National Youth Agency (NYA), Key Fund and Resonance.
“This provides much needed investment for youth centres and dedicated spaces for young people to go in their communities,” said NYA chief executive Leigh Middleton.
Youth minister Nigel Huddleston added: “We are committed to ensuring that no young person is left out of reach or left behind and have put it at the heart of our drive to level up this country.
“I encourage eligible youth services to apply for this life-changing funding.”