John Lyon’s Charity has published a 10-year review of London’s Young People’s Foundations, including the Young Ealing Foundation, saying the borough-based partnerships have helped keep youth services afloat amid rising demand and tightening budgets.
The charity said it has awarded £9m to the foundations over the past decade. It added that the foundations have themselves distributed more than £17m in grants to local community groups, including £452,121 distributed by the Young Ealing Foundation.
The report is published ahead of the government’s forthcoming youth strategy and argues that investing early in local, collaborative infrastructure for young people can deliver long-term social impact and economic value. Young People’s Foundations are described as borough-based “infrastructure organisations”, intended to bring together voluntary, private and public sector partners to coordinate work around children and youth services at a local level.
Elly Heaton, chief executive of the Young Ealing Foundation, told EALING.NEWS: “The cost-of-living crisis is pushing more young people and families towards crisis point, just as funding for community organisations becomes more fragile. Without intervention, vital grassroots groups disappear and the cost to society is far greater. YPFs are proving that strategic, place-based support is cheaper than crisis response.”
John Lyon’s Charity said its funding helped cover core costs such as staff salaries and supported projects designed to encourage collaboration between local charities and local authorities.
In the last financial year, the London foundations secured about £1m in new investment for member organisations through collaborative bids and fundraising, according to the report. The partnerships also delivered more than 70 specialist network sessions on topics including youth violence, mental health and special educational needs and disabilities support, and carried out 670 one-to-one support sessions.
The review also highlighted training to upskill organisations in areas including safeguarding and youth work, and the creation of a “venue bank” intended to bring underused community assets back into use.
Lynne Guyton, the charity’s chief executive, said: “The impact of the YPF model in London has been transformative, and we want to show how this type of funding model can be replicated. By creating simple, structured approaches, we can demonstrate to Government, funders, and the wider sector how a well-designed model can create real, life-changing impact for young people across the UK and beyond. The lessons learned here are invaluable for new foundations, proving that place-based, collaborative investment works.”
Ms Guyton added: “With continued investment and national recognition, the YPF movement has the potential to expand even further, giving every young person, wherever they live, the chance to reach their full potential.”
The charity said it hoped the findings would inform the government’s youth strategy and encourage wider recognition of the model, arguing that further expansion could help extend the approach to more areas of the country. It said the Young People Foundations had already grown beyond London, with 24 foundations now operating nationwide and a further seven in development.
