Funders and Partners
How Funding
helps shape
the Youth sector
YPFT is the infrastructure that brings organisations together. We support YPF's to collaborate, share knowledge and access funding more effectively so local organisations can focus on what they do best, and children and young people benefit from stronger, more joined‑up support where they live.
The impact below reflects what this coordination enables at a network level and how investment in shared infrastructure strengthens local systems.
What we do
65
Number of YPF's & LYP's within the network
2600+
Providers supporting children and young people
70
How many Children and Young People are seen per week
Read more about the projects and initiatives from across the network
Empowering Local Project
Empowering Local is a growing group of local, regional and national funders and infrastructure organisations committed to supporting place-based funding of the VCSE sector which meets the needs of children, young people and communities.
Empowering Local commissioned this research to increase understanding of how funders can best support place-based approaches to funding youth provision.
Between May and December 2022, YMCA George Williams College supported Empowering Local as a research partner to explore the role of funders in youth place-based funding, in order to increase understanding of how funders can best support place-based approaches to funding youth provision.
Core Areas of Focus
Impact: What is known about the role of funding/funders in place-based approaches and initiatives, and how this contributes to positive change.
Process: What are the mechanisms and conditions, such as readiness, that make place-based funding effective? This includes embedding youth voice in decision-making and engagement with local, regional and national organisations.
These reports present the findings of the research and provide nine recommendations, grounded in evidence, for funders and small trusts seeking to develop their approaches to place-based funding in the youth sector.
Members
- Children in Need
- John Lyon’s Charity
- Paul Hamlyn Foundation
- Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS)
- National Lottery Community Fund
- Young Kensington and Chelsea
- Young Manchester
- Youth Focus North East (representing the Network of Regional Youth Work Units)
- Blagrave
- Rothschild Foundation
- YPF Trust
Contact
For further information, please contact: info@ypftrust.org.uk
LOCAL YOUTH PARTNERSHIP (LYP) CAPACITY BUILDING PROJECT
There are many challenges facing children and young people where they live, but we firmly believe that if we come together in active partnership, we can make a positive difference.
Through DCMS funding in 2022/23 and 2023/24 we established a national programme for local partnership in the youth sector, providing the tools, resources and support for any area to collaborate effectively for children and young people – this enables local areas to increase their reach, demonstrate their value and impact and secure investment in local services.
We now know that investment in partnerships leads to greater investment locally and is critical in meeting our collective ambitions for children and young people – local areas need further investment in infrastructure complemented with greater coordination at national level and use of a consistent framework and local centred approach.
We are now working with over 40 areas across England, working in partnership with regional and national partners.
PHASE 1 OF THE PROJECT
- Developed a range of tools, guidance and resources to enable formal partnerships locally.
- Enabled local areas to fully engage with and take advantage of regional and national support available through formal connections to regional and national bodies.
- Established the first ‘Framework for Partnership’, a resource which seeks to provide guidance to organisations and groups looking to explore partnership working, as well as established partnerships.
- Provided a business case supporting LYPs at a local, regional and national level.
- Connected new local partnerships to a growing network of place-based partnerships.
- Connected LYPs into wider investments in children and young people across government, trusts and foundations.
RECOMMENDATIONS
In May 2023, YPF Trust outlined a number of recommendations (to DCMS and partners).
Working alongside national partners, including NYA, YMCA George Williams College, and the Network of Regional Youth Work Units, we recommended:
- Implementing a national programme of support to partnerships across the country.
- Establishing a consistent approach to partnership in the youth sector which supports local needs and ambitions whilst providing clarity and consistency for supporters and partners.
- Aligning partnership development with a core offer for young people and organisations, including National Youth Guarantee and national infrastructure and guidance.
- Providing direct, tailored support for local areas to understand, navigate and influence the opportunities available to them, alongside shaping their local strategies and plans.
- Investing directly into local partnerships through a broad network of local, regional and national funders so that this, in turn, creates the mechanisms for income generation and effective marshalling of resources.
MOVING FORWARD TO PHASE 2
The second phase of this project aimed to provide ongoing local support while also developing national and regional initiatives to foster and support local partnerships.
Priorities for Phase 2:
- Embed Local Youth Partnerships into national policy and practice in the youth sector – including national and local guidance and resources, including via a standardised partnerships framework for LYPs.
- Align Support for LYPs with National and Regional Infrastructure – embed support for Local Youth Partnerships into national and regional infrastructure systems and programmes, ensuring full alignment of local capacity building and development with the work of national partners and the Network of Regional Youth Work Units.
- Explore Sustainable Partnership Support – We will explore long-lasting support and development strategies through Regional Youth Work Units and city-region initiatives like Youth Alliance Greater Manchester.
- Continue direct support for emerging LYPs – including those engaged in the pilot.
- Engage and directly support a further 6-10 areas – providing support and resources in the development of LYPs in those areas.
- Secure Ongoing Support and Investment for LYPs – at regional and national levels, building on established business case and supporting research
Meet the Network
We help local partnerships collaborate more effectively, use evidence to drive decisions, and connect with national opportunities that strengthen the offer for young people.
Contact us for inquiries
and partnerships.
Young People Foundation Trust
- LABS Atrium. The Stables Market Chalk Farm Rd NW1 8AH, London, Greater London
- Hello@YPFT.org