National Youth Strategy : Aspirations to Realities

#youthwork #youthworker #informaleducation #TheYouthWorkCommonRoom #YWCR #WeAreEducators #NationalYouthStrategy #realchangeneeded

Having read through both the Government DCMS National Youth Strategy and upcoming research into the notion of trusted adult in young people's lives, i have developed a series of ideas on youth work and informal education that sits at the heart of the National Youth Strategy’s ambition, so that every young person feels safe, connected and able to thrive in their community. For leaders, practitioners and local authorities, this is potentially a powerful moment to re‑profile the benefits of youth work as core social infrastructure rather than a discretionary add‑on.

Why youth work matters

The Strategy is clear that young people want trusted adults, safe places and real opportunities, especially after years marked by the pandemic, digital overload and rising costs of living that whilst creating beneficial change for some have increased some of the challenges young people have experienced. Youth work and informal education respond directly to these conditions by offering relationship‑centred support, developmental spaces and access to wider opportunity beyond the formal curriculum.

Leaders can use the strategy to frame youth work as a practical yest responsive way to address disconnection, loneliness, safety concerns and limited opportunity that thousands of young people report. This positions youth services as part of the solution to national priorities on wellbeing, education recovery, skills and community cohesion.

Making the benefits visible

To profile and highlight 'value', the Strategy’s language offers connectors to youth work, that resonate with senior leaders and elected members: feeling safe on‑ and offline, feeling connected, building skills, and having health support. Youth providers can align their narratives, case studies and data to these outcomes, showing how open‑access sessions, projects and one‑to‑one work contribute to safety, connection, skills and health in tangible ways.

The Strategy also highlights that decisions and funding are shifting closer to communities and that young people have felt unheard in traditional decision‑making. Our youth organisations can use this to argue for further participatory approaches, co‑produced local offers and young people’s voices as core evidence of impact.

Working with local authorities

A key shift in the Strategy is from national to local, with councils expected to work with young people to design youth services and develop clearer local offers. This opens space for youth work leaders to position themselves as strategic partners who understand local needs, can convene collaboration and can translate national priorities into meaningful local practice. Workable solutions rather than steadying the ship will provide opportunity for transformative change for young people.

Local authorities are also encouraged to reduce fragmentation so that schools, colleges, councils, youth clubs and others work in partnership rather than in silos. Youth work can be profiled as the connective tissue (as identified in the recent Government research into 'youth workers as connectors'), in this ecosystem, bridging education, health and community services through relationships and informal learning spaces.

Universal youth work: a shared foundation

The Strategy’s universal ambitions are that all young people can access safe places, trusted adults and opportunities to develop skills and belonging. Universal youth work is therefore central to securing foundations: early relationships, low‑threshold support, opportunities to explore identity and community, and prevention of problems escalating.

Open‑access provision is also where young people’s voices can be heard at scale, shaping local priorities and service design over time. Leaders can emphasise that without a strong universal offer, it becomes harder to reach those who are worried, disconnected or unsure about the future until crisis point is reached.

Targeted youth work: depth and equity

Alongside universal access, the strategy underlines that some young people experience poverty, housing insecurity, exclusion and health inequalities that make it hard to focus on school, friendships or goals. Targeted youth work responds here with effectiveness, offering more intensive, tailored support around mental health, youth homelessness, exploitation, online harms and other specific risks.

Targeted projects can be profiled as part of the Strategy’s focus on securing the basics and reducing the chances of young people “falling through the cracks” between services. This framing speaks directly to senior leaders interested in reducing demand on acute services by investing earlier in relationship‑based, community‑rooted support.

Strategy shifts and youth work’s role

The Strategy outlines three shifts: towards local decision‑making, collaboration across services, and empowering rather than excluding young people. Youth work practice naturally aligns with all three, through place‑based provision, partnership working and a pedagogy rooted in participation and young people’s rights.

Actions on trusted adults, strengthening the workforce, and tackling loneliness and belonging all create explicit mandates for youth work expansion and professional development. Leaders can use these actions to argue for investment in workforce training, apprenticeships and qualifications, positioning youth work as a recognised, skilled profession rather than a voluntary extra.

Key analysis areas for future planning

When developing universal and targeted youth work in line with the Strategy, leaders and practitioners can focus on several core analytical questions:

• Where are the gaps in trusted adult relationships, and which communities or groups report feeling most lonely, unsafe or disconnected?

• How fragmented is the local support system, and how could Young Futures‑style hubs or partnerships bring services together around young people?

• Which young people face the greatest barriers due to poverty, housing, health or education, and what targeted offers are needed alongside universal spaces?

• How are young people involved in shaping local services, and what changes are needed to move from consultation to genuine shared decision‑making?

if we begin by grounding local strategies in these questions, youth work leaders, local authorities and senior decision‑makers can use the National Youth Strategy as a lever to re‑assert youth work and informal education as essential to young people’s safety, connection and long‑term life chances, developing a re-introduction of professional youth work for young people in all communities.

The document is accessible HERE

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#youthwork #youthworker #informaleducation #TheYouthWorkCommonRoom #YWCR #WeAreEducators #NationalYouthStrategy #realchangeneeded

Steve Walker (2026) The Youth Work Common Room