Funder and charity link up to create £10m youth sector fund

Youth charities are being urged to apply for a share of a £10m fund created through a partnership between UK Youth and the Julia and Hans Rausing Trust.

Applications for the Thriving Minds fund launched today and are available for charities with a turnover of up to £500,000. A focus is to support young people’s mental health.

Grantees will work closely with UK Youth over three years to develop partnership and capacity building, according to the Trust.

“This will ensure they have access to professional development and youth development content, enabling them to provide access to high-quality youth work in their communities and improve young people’s mental health and wellbeing,” the Trust added.

Grants of between £15,000 and £50,000 are being made available through the fund. The Application deadline is 20 March.

UK Youth chief executive Ndidi Okezie said: “We are incredibly grateful to Julia and Hans Rausing for their partnership and unfailing belief in the power of youth work as the catalyst for change that young people need now more than ever.

“Not only have they recognised the urgency to respond with revenue funding now, but they have also shone a much-needed light on the pivotal role that youth workers play in supporting young people at all stages of life, including at times of crisis.

“There is an opportunity here to innovate what collaboration looks like across multiple sectors and deliver a model that pushes the boundaries of what traditional funding distribution looks like.”

The UK Youth Fund – Thriving Minds is now LIVE 🚨

In partnership with @JHRTrust, we’re investing 💰 £10 million 💰 into youth work over the next 3 years to help youth organisations support young people’s #MentalHealth!

👇 APPLY HERE 👇https://t.co/4CYQy1NbwO pic.twitter.com/2mCq9MnKTD
— UK Youth (@UKYouth) February 28, 2022

This latest link up is a continuation of UK Youth’s partnership with the Trust amid the Covid-19 pandemic to support young people.

“During our work with UK Youth, we established there is real need for youth workers to support young people at such important stages of their lives,” said Julia and Hans Rausing.

“We hope that The UK Youth Fund – Thriving Minds and the £10m funding will be another example of how good quality, targeted youth work can make a real difference to young people across the UK, and we can’t wait so see the results.”