UK Youth
Long-term, unrestricted funding for youth organisations
This funding is about backing the staff and volunteers who build deep, trusted relationships with young people and create spaces where they feel supported and safe. It’s about placing trust in their expertise and judgement, and giving them the flexibility and confidence to keep doing what they do best.Sir Trevor Pears
This type of funding is critical to building resilient, effective organisations that can deliver long-term impact for young people.Rosie Ferguson, CEO
UK Youth
Partner since: 2016
Funding invested: £19.5 million
Youth organisations are an essential part of strong communities. They provide safe spaces, trusted adults and opportunities for young people to develop confidence, relationships and skills. Yet years of cuts and underinvestment have left many of them under considerable pressure, with too much time spent securing short-term funding rather than supporting young people. Access to youth provision has also become increasingly unequal, leaving young people in deprived areas among the least likely to benefit.
Pears Foundation has partnered with UK Youth since 2016 because of its unique ability to strengthen youth organisations across the UK. Through its extensive network and deep understanding of the sector, UK Youth reaches hundreds of local organisations embedded in their communities, enabling support to reach places and young people that national funders could not reach alone.
Our partnership has evolved in response to changing needs. During the Covid-19 pandemic, we supported UK Youth to distribute emergency funding to organisations at risk of closure. We then worked together to help youth organisations navigate the cost-of-living crisis before building on that experience in 2026 with a £10 million investment to establish the UK Youth Fund.
The UK Youth Fund provides multi-year unrestricted grants alongside organisational development and shared learning, helping youth organisations become stronger and more resilient while creating opportunities to share knowledge across the sector. Through the Cost of Living Fund alone, 211 organisations received support, collectively reaching more than 120,000 young people. Most of the funding went to smaller organisations serving communities experiencing the greatest disadvantage.
Unrestricted funding is central to the partnership. By placing trust in the expertise and judgement of youth organisations, it gives them the flexibility to use funding where it is most needed, whether retaining staff, meeting essential running costs, improving services or creating capacity for future growth. Multi-year commitments provide the stability to plan ahead and focus on young people, rather than continually competing for short-term funding simply to survive.
Together, our partnership reflects a shared belief that thriving communities depend on strong local youth organisations. By combining UK Youth’s knowledge of the sector with long-term, flexible funding, we are helping strengthen the organisations that provide trusted relationships, safe spaces and opportunities for young people across the country, helping ensure that more young people have somewhere welcoming to go and someone they can trust.