St Giles welcomes APPG report on the future of youth work: “Thrive or Decline? What Youth Work Needs for 2035”
(picture shows: Kiyarn – previously supported by St Giles – with Natasha Irons MP, Chair of the APPG)
St Giles was delighted to be in Westminster on Monday 2 November 2026 for the launch of the Youth Affairs APPG report, Thrive or Decline? What Youth Work Needs for 2035.
The report brings together expert views on the National Youth Strategy for England and makes additional recommendations for government on the future of youth work.
We contributed to the report, highlighting the need for regular, funded and accessible youth worker training that reflects the realities of young people’s lives in 2026. We believe training should be an integral, ongoing part of every youth worker’s career.
Why up-to-date youth worker training matters
What it means to be a young person today can only truly be understood by someone living it. Their world in 2026 looks entirely different to a decade ago. Online harms, the rise of the manosphere, growing mental health needs and a world being transformed by AI bring new challenges, risks and opportunities.
For youth workers and other professionals acting as trusted adults, it is vital to understand a young person’s world in 2026, even without direct lived experience of it.
Youth work caseloads and capacity
As the report highlights, youth services have been cut by £1.3 billion since 2010 (source: YMCA). Demand is outstripping supply, leaving many professionals with high caseloads. Many young people have experienced trauma and have complex needs. Specialist support for them is best delivered through smaller caseloads.
Youth services funding: prevention over sticking plasters
This brings us back to the need for proper youth services funding, and to a wider question of whether we prioritise early intervention and prevention over sticking-plaster solutions. Many young people who use youth services come from deprived backgrounds and face added barriers to positive opportunities. Early support prevents more serious problems later on.
Supporting every young person to thrive
We warmly welcome the APPG’s report and its findings. Every young person deserves the chance to dream and the support to turn those dreams into a future. Yet for too many, trauma, loneliness, exclusion and exploitation threaten to bury that potential before it can shine.
We are here to change that, helping each young person recognise their strengths, believe in what is possible and take back control of their future.
Read the full report: Thrive or Decline? What Youth Work Needs for 2035
Find out more about St Giles’ work with young people
https://www.stgilestrust.org.uk/what-we-do/violence-exploitation/