Today’s publication of the Government’s Youth Strategy marks the start of a positive 10-year vision for young people, backed by over £500 million. By young people, for young people – this is a strategy that we all stand to benefit from.

We are pleased that the strategy embraces much of what we and many others have long been calling for over the last two years, and the £70 million investment in a landmark, ambitious new programme to establish 50 Young Futures Hubs and to transform local youth services could not come sooner for young people who need it most.  

We are proud to have helped develop Young Futures Hubs – the “Sure Start for Teenager” model we put forward in the Commission on Young Lives - which was developed because vulnerable and marginalised young people were falling through the cracks in support.

The focus on trusted relationships, more youth provision, safer communities, better and wider-spread opportunities, and spaces young people can call their own reflects what we have heard from young people over many years.

The strategy includes:

• Nearly £70 million over three years to rebuild and improve local youth services and establish a network of 50 Young Futures Hubs

• Over £60 million over the next three years on a new Richer Young Lives Fund to improve access to enriching activities and youth work

• £15 million over three years for youth workers, volunteers, and other trusted adults, to ensure that half a million more young people have access to a trusted adult outside of their home by 2035.

• £350 million to build or upgrade 250 youth facilities through the Better Youth Spaces programme

• £22.5 million over three years to create enrichment offers in up to 400 schools

• £5 million over three years to support local and regional youth infrastructure.  

It also includes other commitments, such as:

• £250 million over five years in 100 places, through Sport England, to ensure that young people can participate in high-quality sport and physical activity.

• Investing £820 million in the Youth Guarantee to support young people into training, jobs, and apprenticeships, and to create over 360 DWP Youth Hubs.

• £400 million on new and upgraded grassroots community sport facilities.

• £132.5 million from the Dormant Assets scheme on the ‘Every Child Can’ programme to support the provision of services, facilities or opportunities for young people.

It is hugely encouraging to see the strategy recognise and tackle many of the realities facing young people - growing numbers not in education, employment or training, rising loneliness, unequal access to opportunities, long waits for mental health support, and a lack of trusted adult relationships.

The Youth Strategy must now be the catalyst for joined up support which complements and strengthens local networks and reaches young people who have previously been excluded from support. Young Futures can be an enduring and recognised network that becomes part of the fabric of local communities - working with young people to provide what they need, where and when they need it.  

It is hugely encouraging to see a commitment to halving the participation gap in enriching activities between disadvantaged young people and their peers.

To turn this ambition into lasting impact requires a commitment to rebuild the infrastructure and workforce that has been decimated since 2010. This is why we also welcome the Government's commitment to invest over £60 million over the next three years on a new Richer Young Lives Fund to improve access to enriching activities and youth work, £350 million over four years through the Better Youth Spaces programme, and a further £5 million to support youth infrastructure at the local and regional level.

Youth Matters has the potential to be a transformational strategy for young people and is an important and necessary step forward in the way we listen to and support young people. With coordinated leadership and sustained commitment, it must now be delivered for young people across the country, particularly those facing the greatest disadvantage and vulnerabilities.