Young people aged 10-19, and youth workers, from across England joined Minister Stephanie Peacock MP and Alex McIntyre MP in Parliament to celebrate the impact of the Youth Investment Fund. Over the past three plus years, the UK Government’s Youth Investment Fund has transformed young people’s opportunities and given them access to trusted youth workers, in safe, accessible and modern spaces; all at the heart of communities that need it most. 

Since the Youth Investment Fund’s launch in August 2022, 276 youth services have been built or refurbished across England, creating spaces made by and for young people. Through Youth Advisory Boards, Young Assessors, and youth-led design sessions, young people directly influenced decisions about what their new youth centres should be like. Along with capital investment, youth centres were awarded revenue funding to develop and grow the number of trained youth workers and to help them become more resilience and sustainable organisations. By March 2027, these centres will reach 73,141 young people every week, with 48,236 additional young people accessing new or renovated spaces to learn, grow and belong. 

The Youth Investment Fund has transformed young people’s opportunities and the youth sector landscape across England:

  • More than 1 in 7 young people will live in walking distance of a Youth Investment Fund supported youth centre.
  • 1.25 million opportunities for young people to access multiple youth centres in England.
  • 74,000 young people will live within walking distance of a youth centre in areas of the country with the most anti-social behaviour. 
  • All eligible local authority areas had youth centres that were awarded Youth Investment Fund grants. 
  • 70% of funded youth centres are in the most disadvantaged communities (Index of Multiple Deprivation 1-3 areas).  

The youth-led Parliamentary event to celebrate the Youth Investment Fund was hosted by Alex McIntyre MP for Gloucester. Over 30 young people aged 10-19, youth workers and the organisations that delivered the Youth Investment Fund, gathered in Parliament with Minister Peacock and MPs to celebrate the impact and legacy of the fund. Many of the young people had never had the opportunity to visit Parliament or even London before.

Earlier in the day young people and youth workers participated in a workshop, drawing on their insights and lived experience to contribute to the Youth Services Bill, currently moving through parliament. The young people were joined by Dr Lauren Sullivan MP a co-sponsor of the Bill. Dr Lauren Sullivan commended young people for shaping their new youth centres and encouraged them to “use their voice” to actively influence the Youth Services Bill by meeting their local MP in their surgery.

The young people represented the breadth of youth services supported by the Youth Investment Fund, including KBSK in Bodmin, The Lowdown in Northampton, The Swannery in Bristol, The Boyzee in Knowsley, Brighton Youth Club, Salford Youth Zone, and The Lighthouse Project in Byker. Young people shared their experiences of being empowered to shape their newly funded youth centres and why it’s vital to keep young people in the driving seat in future policy and funding developments that affect them.

Young people from Eloquent Dance in Birmingham created a special celebratory dance performance to mark the Youth Investment Fund celebration in Parliament, while Edee, a young person from Blackbridge Community and Sports Hub in Gloucester, gave a solo jazz and Latin style singing performance, with her original lyrics.

Eloquent Dance, based in Aston, Birmingham, uses dance and the performing arts to inspire, empower, and create opportunities for young people. The youth centre received a £470,880 Youth Investment Fund grant to renovate and expand their facility, transforming it from an overcrowded multi-use space into a fit-for-purpose youth hub that gives young people the space to grow and thrive.

The UK Government’s £300M+ Youth Investment Fund was delivered by Social Investment Business in partnership with Key Fund, National Youth Agency and Resonance, with support from Fusion2, Turner & Townsend and Sharpe Pritchard.

It’s been a privilege to deliver the Youth Investment Fund: a substantial vote of confidence in young people and youth work. And every youth centre we’ve funded has been shaped by young people, creating safe and modern spaces that they can truly identify with. It’s a real joy to celebrate those collective achievements today. It’s a huge success that more than one in seven young people is now in walking distance of a Youth Investment Fund supported service, but there is still much more to do. Cold spots persist in nearly half of local authority areas and more investment is needed to close the gap. We look forward to seeing much more investment in young people in the years to come”

Nick Temple OBE, CEO for Social Investment Business

For many of our young people, rooms like this can feel distant, out of reach and not made for them. But on this day, they didn't just visit, they took up space: They performed, they were seen, they were heard. And they reminded everyone watching that their voices, their stories, and their talent belong in the rooms where decisions are made.

Romanah Buchanan, CEO and Artistic Director for Eloquent Dance

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