The government has today launched the Youth Matters Fund, an investment of more than £400 million in youth provision across 60 of the most underserved areas in England.
Announced by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, the fund will pay for enriching activities, youth work and opportunities that help young people develop skills and build connections. It will also fund capital projects: new builds, refurbishments, equipment and development support for organisations that want to improve or expand what they offer young people.
More than 2,000 youth facilities and projects are expected to benefit over the next few years.
Shaped by young people
The fund follows Youth Matters: Your National Youth Strategy, which heard from more than 14,000 young people. Their asks were consistent: safe places to go, things to do, chances to build skills and trusted adults to turn to.
Young people will also be at the heart of deciding how the money is spent locally, with the fund targeting areas where they feel there is little to do.
What it means for community sport
The fund opens in early 2027 to eligible youth sector organisations and local authorities. It will be delivered by Social Investment Business in partnership with the National Youth Agency, UK Youth, UK Community Foundations, the Young People's Foundation Trust and Sharpe Pritchard.
For community sport organisations working with young people in underserved areas, this is one to prepare for now. Clubs and foundations already delivering youth work and activities are exactly the kind of organisations the fund is designed to back, and the places methodology means the money is going where provision is thinnest.
Source: GOV.UK https://www.gov.uk/guidance/youth-matters-fund