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How YMCA is helping to improve youth services in England & Wales
YMCAs support more than 228,711 children, young people and their families from birth to early adulthood through our extensive youth services and early years offering.
Besides providing safe, affordable places to live that feel like home, some YMCAs help young people to fulfil their aspirations to access education, training and employment.
YMCA also seeks to give everyone a place within their community to develop in mind, body and spirit, working with partners to deliver the support and opportunities young people need, providing access to sport, youth work, workshops, mental health support and advice.
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How YMCA is helping to provide youth services in England & Wales
We run 237 youth clubs every week, as well as targeted and detached youth work to 12,000 young people on their terms, adapting to their needs and interests.
YMCA is the oldest charitable provider of youth services in England and Wales.
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young people are given a safe space through our extensive youth services offering
YMCA is so much more than somewhere to live.
We provide critical foundations for a fresh, strong start for young people and a better quality of life in the community.
Our youth services
YMCA’s training and learning programmes enabled 23,886 people to fulfil their potential through formal qualifications or acquiring skills, creating pathways to both the workplace and further education.
Some YMCAs provide education and training themselves; others work with local partners and support people into such programmes, for example by connecting people to local companies for apprenticeship and employment opportunities.
- Work experience placements or opportunities – 676
- JobCentre training schemes – 250
- Foundation programmes – 358
- Pre-apprenticeships / traineeships – 159
- Apprenticeships – 1,182
- Further education (e.g. A-level, GNVQ, BTEC) – 1,876
- Undergraduate degrees 67
We also offer a range of short courses for people to gain the confidence to enter and develop in the world of work, as well as in their own lives. Our goal is for young people to feel motivated to tackle the challenges they face in employment and at home.
- Basic life skills – 4,392
- Literacy and numeracy skills – 1,361
- ICT skills – 1,133
- Financial planning and budgeting – 3,728
- Work and employment skills – 3,067
Whatever the situation, everybody should have somebody who supports them when needed. Every year, YMCA provides qualified guidance to help 69,135 people build – or rebuild – their belief in themselves and a bright future.
- Drugs and alcohol advice and counselling – 1,573
- Mental health education and advice – 2,392
- Mental health counselling – 3,001
- Sexual health advice – 8,309
- Mentoring service – 1,005
- Crime prevention and avoidance – 465
The amount spent on youth services by local authorities in England and Wales has fallen by 10% in a single year, marking the largest annual reduction since 2016–17, according to new analysis published by YMCA England & Wales.
YMCA’s annual report into youth service funding shows that councils in England spent £419 million on services for young people in 2024–25, a sharp year-on-year fall that comes at a critical moment for national policy on youth provision.
Over the past 14 years, local authority funding for youth services in England has fallen by 76% in real terms, representing a loss of £1.3 billion since 2010–11. In Wales, spending has declined by 29% over the same period, and, comparatively, over the past year, spending has fallen slightly in real terms to £46 million, continuing a long-term downward trend.
Youth services provide a much needed space for young people to grow
Together, we can help young people feel accepted.
Frequently asked questions
Youth services are programmes that include a range of leisure, cultural, sporting, and enrichment activities, often based around youth centres, as well as more targeted provision for vulnerable young people, including teenage pregnancy advice, youth justice teams, and drug and alcohol misuse services. Youth services can also be provided by different organisations in the voluntary, public, community and faith sectors. YMCA provides 267 youth clubs.
Most youth services are open to young people within a certain age range (often 11–18 or up to 25 for targeted support). Local authorities (local councils) have a duty to secure services and activities for young people aged 13 to 19, and those with learning difficulties to age 24, to improve their wellbeing.
Many youth services are primarily free to access, making them readily available to young people. Some youth services are heavily subsidised. This financial support ensures that all young individuals have the opportunity to participate in a wide range of activities.
Open-access youth services (universal) are youth clubs and projects open to all young people. Targeted provision is for vulnerable young people, including teenage pregnancy advice, youth justice teams, and drug and alcohol misuse services. Detached youth work engages with young people where they are, often in the community, such as on the streets, in parks, in shopping centres, or in local areas.