Hope, Courage, Impact: Reflections on the last year

Our Annual Report for 2024/25 has just been published. As we work tirelessly to support young people and strengthen the youth sector, it’s important to pause, stand back, and reflect. This helps us celebrate our collective achievements and – just as importantly – learn from the challenges we’ve faced. These insights will make our work even stronger in the years ahead.

This past year has demanded courage, creativity, and resilience from young people. They have faced extraordinary challenges. The world they are growing up in is profoundly disrupted by political instability, economic uncertainty, deepening social divides, and the steady erosion of the services designed to support them. These forces haven’t just made life more difficult to navigate – they’ve made it harder for young people to hope.

Yet, across the UK, young people continue to impress us with their ideas, ambition, and their drive to build something better. This is the power and potential of youth. And this is the transformative role of youth work: to recognise that power, nurture it, and help it thrive.

During the summer of 2024, the UK witnessed a wave of race-related unrest that shocked communities across the country. Youth workers were on the front lines – keeping young people safe, countering misinformation, providing positive alternatives, and beginning the long, often invisible work of rebuilding trust and connection. This is just one example of why we at UK Youth have remained steadfast in our Unlocking Youth Work strategy (2020–2025) and in our mission to unlock youth work for all. In a year defined by volatility, our values – inclusivity, curiosity, courage, community, and excellence – have guided our every decision.

We are proud of our achievements. We’ve stood alongside youth workers and organisations nationwide, amplifying the voices of young people and championing their leadership.

Over the past five years, we have reached more than 680,000 young people through our programmes, grants, and our sector-leading outdoor learning centre, Avon Tyrrell. Our role as a national convener has grown, exemplified by the Joined Up Summit in November 2024, where more than 500 young people and cross-sector leaders came together to shape the future of youth support. We have connected young people with decision-makers to envisage and build a more equitable future through Hope Hacks, No.10 roundtables, the #iWill Movement, and our Business Leaders for Youth Network.

Internally, we have continued strengthening our foundations – improving governance, investing in staff development, and sharpening our financial strategy to secure the organisation’s long-term health.

We’re especially proud of our work bringing new investment into the youth sector. The UK Youth Fund, delivered in partnership with the Pears Foundation and other funders, has now distributed over £7m in unrestricted funding to 212 youth organisations, reaching more than 100,000 young people. At a time when many organisations face the threat of closure, this funding has truly been a lifeline.

Our partnership with Primark has extended grants to youth organisations from Glasgow to Brighton, Swansea to Whitton. Our new collaboration with nexfibre is helping bridge the digital divide by bringing vital high-speed internet connectivity and digital support to grassroots youth spaces. Access to grants and expert guidance, provided by Osborne Clarke, is helping youth organisations harness the power of digital technologies.

Our pioneering research continues to build the evidence base for youth work, demonstrating its life-changing impact on education, mental health, employment, violence prevention, and other areas of young people’s lives. 

Our commitment to outdoor learning through our Avon Tyrrell Outdoor Centre social enterprise represents a strategic investment in nurturing a generation of healthier, more resilient, and environmentally conscious citizens.

Through programmes including Summer Jobs, Adventures Away from Home, and Building Aspirations, we show that youth work doesn’t just respond to crises – it creates opportunity, fosters belonging, and lays the foundations for lifelong success.

None of this would be possible without our people. We are deeply grateful to our staff and trustees, our network of over 9,000 youth organisations, and our partners, for their belief, energy, and resilience. We are also thankful to our former CEO, Ndidi Okezie OBE, who left the organisation at the end of 2024. Her vision for systems change and cross-sector collaboration has left a lasting legacy.

As we look ahead, the need for our work has never been greater – but neither have the opportunities. We were delighted to welcome our new permanent CEO, Rosie Ferguson, earlier this year, and a new National Youth Strategy is on the horizon.

This is a moment for courage, connection, and bold, sustained investment in the people and places that help young people thrive. The work is far from over, but with unwavering belief in young people and in each other, we are building a future where access to high-quality youth work is not the exception but the expectation.