Youth Charter response to Youth Matters: Your National Youth Strategy…

The Youth Charter welcomes the publication of Youth Matters: Your National Youth Strategy, the first national framework for young people in over two decades. This strategy recognises many of the systemic challenges the Youth Charter has highlighted for more than 32 years: the collapse of local youth infrastructure, rising loneliness, poor mental health, digital harms, inequality of opportunity, and the widening participation gap affecting disadvantaged young people. It also echoes the Youth Charter’s long-standing principle that young people must be engaged, equipped, and empowered if they are to thrive.

The National Youth Strategy aligns strongly with the Youth Charter’s 2019 National Call to Action, which called for:

• a National Youth Development Plan

• a National Youth Development Fund

• a Minister for Youth

• investment in youth workforce development

• sustainable youth spaces and community engagement

We welcomed the government’s inclusion of a National Youth Strategy in its 2024 Manifesto and commitment to rebuilding youth services. However, we believe further structural reform and a clearer youth development model are required to ensure delivery reaches every young person.

1. The Need for a Ministry of Youth...

While the appointment of a Minister for Sport, Tourism, Civil Society and Youth is a positive step, this role is dispersed across multiple portfolios. The Youth Charter reiterates its call for:

• a Minister for Youth with a sole focus on young people

• a Ministry of Youth coordinating cross-departmental policy, funding, accountability and delivery

Given that the National Youth Strategy spans DCMS, DfE, DSIT, DWP, Home Office, MHCLG, NHS England and others (as set out in the Strategy’s 10 Action Areas), a unified Ministry is essential to overcome fragmentation.

2. The Youth Charter Model and Framework...

A key gap in the National Youth Strategy is the absence of a coherent youth development model under which national, regional and local delivery can align. The Youth Charter proposes adoption of its proven Community Campus Model, Social Coach Leadership Programme, and Youthwise Activities Framework, which collectively provide:

Somewhere to Go – Community Campus Model

A place-based social infrastructure for young people bringing together:

• schools

• youth services

• sports clubs

• arts and culture providers

• digital learning partners

• health and wellbeing support

• employers and skills agencies

Campuses deliver Engage → Equip → Empower pathways that align to government ambitions around wellbeing, safety, opportunity, participation and belonging.

Someone to Show Them – Social Coach Leadership Programme (SCLP)

The Youth Charter’s system for training Social Coaches (trusted adults, mentors, youth workers, sports/art leaders). This directly supports Action 1: Trusted Adults and Action 2: Strengthening the Workforce of the National Youth Strategy.

Something to Do – Youthwise Activities

Structured programmes across:

• sport

• arts

• culture

• digital skills

Youthwise embeds mental, physical and emotional wellbeing, directly supporting the Strategy’s objectives under Richer Lives, Good Work, Health & Wellbeing, Friends & Relationships, and Delivering with Young People.

Impact Themes (aligned with SDGs & National Youth Strategy)

• Education

• Health

• Citizenship

• Environment

• Employment & Skills

• Collaboration & Partnership

• Equality, Diversity, Inclusion & Participation

These provide a measurable framework for the Strategy’s outcomes approach, and complement government’s new Outcomes Framework for Local Government.

3. Areas where the Youth Charter Delivery aligns to the 10 Actions of the National Youth Strategy...

National Youth Strategy Action	Youth Charter Contribution
1. Trusted Adults	Social Coaches providing trusted adult relationships
2. Strengthening the Workforce	SCLP Academy training 10,000 Social Coaches
3. Friends & Relationships	Youthwise activities improving social connection
4. Richer Lives	Campus-based enrichment in sport, arts, culture, digital
5. Good Work	Youthwise-to-Work pathways into FE, HE, skills & employment
6. Keeping Young People Safe	Community Campuses as protective spaces with role models
7. Places to Go	Community Campus Model as scalable youth infrastructure
8. Health & Wellbeing	Social Coaches delivering mental, physical, emotional development
9. Delivering with Young People	Youth Parliaments & co-design within campuses
10. Holding Us to Account	Youth Charter governance, monitoring & evaluation frameworks