About UK Youth
UK Youth was established in 1911 and is the UK's largest non-uniformed network for young people. Its network reaches more than 750,000 young people in clubs and projects throughout the UK and relies heavily on the use of volunteers to achieve this. Of 45,000 local youth workers nearly 30,000 are volunteers.
The Charity exists to help young people successfully make the transition to adulthood and become fulfilled individuals and effective citizens. It does this via 4 key charitable objectives: developing innovative youth work programmes, training part time and volunteer workers, supporting a network of local groups and advocating the benefits of youth work approaches.
Over the years, UK Youth has become recognised as a pioneer and leader in the fields of youth work and peer education.
While the charity's work is for all young people, it particularly target disadvantaged young people who are at risk of becoming withdrawn from the community and or getting involved in criminal or anti-social behaviour. Its programmes are designed to give young people, whatever their origin, the skills and information they need to make constructive decisions and to effectively plan and manage their projects and activities.
Some of our projects and their specific target groups include:
- Moving On - young people leaving care
- Dying to Live - young men with suicidal tendencies
- Breaking Points - young people experiencing family breakdown
- Starting Points - young people with literacy and numeracy problems
The charity also have projects designed to help young mothers get back onto the path of further education and employment and projects to help young fathers to help them adjust to the demanding role of being a responsible parent.
UK Youth also recognises and celebrates young people's achievements through accrediting their learning through a number of accreditation options such as our Youth Achievement Awards.