The government has set out a £450 million Youth Matters Fund to improve youth provision in 60 of the most underserved areas in England, describing it as the largest investment in youth services ever made by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS).

Details of the programme were published on GOV.UK on 13 November 2026. The fund will be delivered in two phases, with the first grants going directly to local authorities this financial year and the main fund opening for applications in early 2027.

What the fund will pay for

Under phase one, an initial £20 million will go directly to the 60 eligible upper-tier local authorities this financial year. The money is intended to create immediate impact on the ground, funding youth work and enriching activities that young people themselves have said they want.

Phase two will provide more than £400 million from the 2027/28 financial year onwards, in capital and revenue funding to transform local youth provision in the same 60 areas. The government says it expects more than 2,000 youth facilities and projects to benefit, helping to create, expand, improve or preserve youth provision in the communities where it is most needed.

The fund will support the construction and renovation of youth facilities and the purchase of capital equipment, alongside funding for youth work and enriching activities. It is part of the government's ambition to halve the participation gap in enriching activities between disadvantaged young people and their peers by 2035, and to give half a million more young people access to a trusted adult outside their home.

Which areas are included

The 60 eligible areas span all nine regions of England and include Barnsley, Birmingham, Blackpool, County Durham, Gateshead, Hull, Leeds, Liverpool, Luton, Manchester, Middlesbrough, Newcastle upon Tyne, Nottingham, Oldham, Plymouth, Portsmouth, Sheffield, Stoke-on-Trent, Sunderland and Wigan, as well as coastal communities such as Skegness and King's Lynn.

The areas were selected because they are the most in need of investment in youth provision, according to the government. The fund will be delivered by Social Investment Business, working with the National Youth Agency, UK Youth, UK Community Foundations, the Young People's Foundation Trust and Sharpe Pritchard.

Young people to help shape spending

Young people will have a direct say in how the money is used in their area. The government has co-designed a youth-led funding toolkit setting out principles for involving young people in shaping, designing and delivering the local youth offer, and local areas will be expected to show how they are meeting those principles when they apply for funding.

The fund is a central part of Youth Matters, the government's national youth strategy, published on 10 December 2025. The strategy was described as the first cross-government plan for young people in 15 years and was co-produced with more than 14,000 young people through a State of the Nation survey.

Alongside the fund, the government has committed to recruiting 1,000 new youth workers and trusted adults, with the first workers expected to be in post by spring 2027, and to establishing Young Futures Hubs bringing mental health support, careers guidance and activities together in one place.

The wider programme sits alongside the Every Child Can programme, which supports activities beyond the school gates, from arts and culture to sport and nature. The government says the combined package is designed to make sure a young person's opportunities are not determined by where they live or their background.

Further information on how local organisations can apply to the main Youth Matters Fund will be published before it opens in early 2027. Sources: GOV.UK: Youth Matters Fund Programme and GOV.UK: Youth Matters Fund guidance.