1,000 new youth workers: A good start, but where they go matters

Youth Leads UK welcomes the Government’s announcement of 1,000 new youth workers for England.

Any investment in young people is a good investment. For years, youth services have been cut to the bone, and the young people we work with have felt that loss in fewer places to be themselves, fewer trusted adults to turn to, and fewer routes into opportunity. A commitment to bring more youth workers back into communities is a step in the right direction, and one we want to see succeed.

We want to make sure it succeeds.

If the 1,000 new roles are spread across England’s 300+ local authorities, that works out at around three youth workers per council area. Many council youth services are a shadow of what they once were and we’re worried that three extra workers won’t have enough impact.

We’re calling on Government to place a share of these roles within youth organisations which already have the relationships, the trusted spaces and the day-to-day knowledge of what young people in their communities need. Placing youth workers where young people already are means they can start making a difference from day one.

Saeed Atcha MBE DL, CEO of Youth Leads UK, said:

“Any investment in youth is a good investment, and we’re glad to see the government recognise how much youth workers matter. But 1,000 workers spread thinly across stretched local authority services risks having minimal impact. Put these roles into youth organisations that young people already know and trust, and this could be the start of real, lasting change. We’re ready to work with government to help make that happen.”

We’ll be keeping a close eye as more detail emerges on how the new roles will be rolled out, and we’ll keep making the case for an approach that puts young people and the organisations that support them at the heart of it.