YMCA Calls for Urgent Action to Reverse Decline in Youth Services Funding

Youth charity YMCA today released its latest report, ‘Beyond the Brink?’ sponsored by Vestey Holdings. The report highlights the continued challenges facing local authority expenditure on youth services across England and Wales.

Despite repeated calls for action from the sector, it reveals the ongoing persistent funding shortfalls and their impact on young people and local communities. For over a decade, local authority budgets for youth services have been significantly depleted, with YMCA’s annual reports charting the deep and continuing cuts on youth services and the impact of this on young people. From much-needed services for young people disappearing, youth centres closing, and trained youth workers lost to the sector to the ongoing cost-of-living crisis and the financial strain on councils, youth services have been pushed to breaking point.  

Instead of the much-needed reinvestment, YMCA’s latest report has revealed a stagnated 73% decline in funding for England (0.5% fall year-on-year), and a 6% year-on-year decline in Wales. This represents a real-terms cut of £1.2bn to youth services between 2010-11 to 2023-24 in England, and £16.6m in Wales. 

Key findings of the report reveal:

• The decline in youth services expenditure in England marginally continued in the last financial year, and levels remain critically low following more than a decade of cuts.
• Council-run youth centres continue to close, and youth workers have fewer hours to support young people. In the past decade, some 643 youth centres have closed, and 1536 qualified youth workers have been lost.
• Many councils face financial pressures, with 63% anticipating further cuts to services for children, young people, and families in the coming year.

Denise Hatton, Chief Executive of YMCA England & Wales, urged immediate and sustainable funding to rebuild the sector. She commented:

“Our latest report paints a stark picture of the ongoing crisis in youth services. Local authorities have navigated unimaginable challenges over the past decade, but there is simply nothing left to cut. Without long-term, sustainable investment in youth workers and community programmes, the next generation of young people risk losing access to the support and opportunities they need to thrive.”

A point of hope on the horizon is the Government’s commitment to a national youth strategy and ongoing policy work in 2025, which presents a vital opportunity to reset and rebuild. But promises alone are not enough –as a leading youth charity continually campaigning for long-term investment in youth services, YMCA calls for bold action in order to create lasting change. “This is a once-in-a-generation moment to reshape the future for young people, and we cannot afford to waste it,” added Denise Hatton.

The report acknowledges the importance of initiatives like the Youth Investment Fund, the Better Youth Spaces programme, and Wales’ Strategic Voluntary Youth Work Organisation (SVYWO) grant scheme. However, it highlights that these funds often prioritise capital investments over local revenue needs, leaving many frontline services struggling to survive.

The report calls for:

• The expedited development and implementation of a fully-funded National Youth Strategy for England, with the importance of properly funded youth services as a key part of this strategy.
• Greater financial support for local authorities to deliver youth services tailored to their communities’ unique needs.
• Sustained investment in youth workers and programming to provide young people with meaningful support, opportunities, and resources.

YMCA urges policymakers, local councils, and partners to seize this critical opportunity and invest in young people’s futures and pull funding back from the brink before it’s too late.