– Rochdale will receive a new Young Futures Hub, bringing together support and opportunities for young people in the local community.
– The new hub will bring together mental health support, employment and skills opportunities, sport, creative activities and crime prevention services.
– The expansion is a key milestone in Labour’s National Youth Strategy, Youth Matters, which was co-produced with 14,000 young people and is backed by over £500 million of government investment.
– Rochdale Borough Council will also receive support through the Local Youth Transformation programme to strengthen leadership, train its workforce and build lasting local partnerships.
The new Young Futures Hub will provide young people in Rochdale aged 10 to 18, and up to 25 for those with SEND, with access to seamless, holistic support. Alongside open-access sport, creative activities and trusted youth workers, the hub will connect young people with mental health support, skills and training, routes into employment and crime prevention services.
The expansion forms part of the Government’s National Youth Strategy, Youth Matters, launched by Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy in December 2025 and co-produced with 14,000 young people through the landmark State of the Nation survey.
The survey highlighted that many young people have been left without access to safe, supportive environments or a community to belong to, while reliance on online interaction has grown in the absence of face-to-face opportunities.
Youth Matters sets out an ambition to rebuild youth services over the next decade, backed by over £500 million of government investment, while putting power back in the hands of local communities and giving young people a role in designing services around the skills, support and opportunities they need.
Paul Waugh, Labour and Co-operative MP for Rochdale, welcomed the announcement:
“I’m delighted that Rochdale will be receiving a new Young Futures Hub. This is a really important investment in young people locally, and it means they will have better access to the support, opportunities and safe spaces they need to thrive.
“Despite years of austerity and deep cuts to council budgets, I’m proud that Rochdale Borough Council worked hard to keep youth provision going when many other areas were losing theirs altogether. There is no getting away from the fact that a decade of funding cuts took its toll, and provision here declined despite everyone’s best efforts, but this new investment will help us turn that around.
“The new Young Futures Hub will bring together mental health support, skills and employment opportunities, sport, creative activities and crime prevention, making it easier for young people to get the right support in one place.
“I’m looking forward to working with Rochdale Borough Council and local youth organisations to make sure the new hub delivers for young people across Rochdale, and that young people themselves have a say in how it develops.
“This is Labour delivering on our commitment to rebuild youth services and give young people in Rochdale the opportunities they deserve.”
Lisa Nandy, Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, said:
“Last year we spoke to thousands of young people who told us that they needed somewhere to go, something to do, and someone to talk to. That’s what these new Young Futures Hubs will give them. It is a symbol of this government wrapping their arms around young people, telling them we believe in their generation and that we know they can succeed.”
The Government is investing £70 million between 2026/27 and 2028/29 to establish Young Futures Hubs and deliver Local Youth Transformation projects. This includes up to £500,000 for each local authority delivering Local Youth Transformation projects, up to £125,000 in capital funding for each hub, and up to £300,000 per year for each hub to operate.
The investment comes after a decade in which local government spending on youth services fell by 73 per cent between 2010/11 and 2022/23, with more than 1,000 youth centres closing and over 4,500 youth worker roles lost.
Young Futures Hubs form part of a wider cross-government programme to improve opportunities and support for young people, including:
– £132 million through the Every Child Can programme, funding in-person activities at weekends and during the holidays ahead of the upcoming social media ban on young people up to 16.
– £22.5 million through the Enrichment Expansion Programme, working with up to 400 schools in the most deprived areas of England to support them to meet the benchmarks set out in the Department for Education’s new Enrichment Framework.
– Youth Hubs in more than 360 locations, allowing young people aged 16 to 24, including those not on benefits, to access employment support, skills and wider opportunities in every local area of Great Britain. Young Futures Hubs will support 10 to 18-year-olds, with provision up to age 25 for those with SEND, while Youth Hubs support 16 to 24-year-olds, with partners working to ensure smooth transitions between services where appropriate.
– The Halving Knife Crime Plan, including Young Futures Panels in areas of high knife crime working alongside Young Futures Hubs to ensure children at risk of knife crime receive the support they need.
– Over £400 million for new and upgraded local community sport facilities, alongside a £10 million investment in The King’s Trust’s youth opportunity initiative, backed by Goodwill Ambassador Sir Gareth Southgate, and £250 million from Sport England for youth sport and physical activity.
Further measures will be announced in the coming weeks, including as part of the Government’s response to the forthcoming review into young people and work, led by Alan Milburn.