Launch of £6.1m fund to connect local support for young people

Youth Futures Foundation (@YF_Foundation) launches its latest multi-million pound fund.

The aim of the Connected Futures programme is to join up services at a local level so that young people furthest from the job market receive good quality, consistent support that understands their complex needs.

Anna Smee, CEO Youth Futures Foundation said:

“When young people facing disadvantage told us what they want from employment support, they talked about changes to the whole system of statutory, charitable and business-led services, not just individual agencies or interventions. It is clear that these young people need connected services that work together to help them achieve their goals, with their long-term wellbeing at their heart.”

There are 631,000 young people not in education or employment and nearly 200,000 of those are long-term unemployed. It is unacceptable that just over one in 10  of our young people are not in education, employment or training (NEET) – this figure is still too high compared with places like Germany, Denmark and the Netherlands. If we could match the NEET rates seen in Germany, that could provide a £40bn boost to our national GDP.

The fund is open to partnership applications from local authorities, charities, not-for-profits, employers and related organisations and must be focused on a distinct geographic area. To be successful, proposals must demonstrate alignment with Youth Futures’ mission and ‘what works’ evidence-based approach. The new fund brings the total committed by Youth Futures to tackle youth unemployment to £27.7m, since it was established in 2019.

The grants for the first phase of the Connected Futures programme will run for a duration of up to 18 months. The closing date for applications is Monday 17th January 2022.