About Us
Our vision is that all children and young people are heard and supported to be happy and thrive wherever they are.
Established in 2021, Young People Foundations Trust (YPF Trust) is an organisation that grows, supports and enables place-based collaboration and partnerships focused on the needs of young people and the organisations that support them – we do this through a growing network of Young People’s Foundations (YPFs).
We know that children & young people will thrive if the organisations that work with them are supported, resourced, recognised and connected, locally and nationally.
OUR FOUR KEY PRINCIPLES
People
We put people first, within and outside the network, and want to be an outstanding employer and a champion of equity, inclusion and rights. We are enablers and facilitators of others, bringing people together.
PARTNERSHIP
We are better when we work with others, and we know that collaboration makes children and young people’s lives better. We do it and champion it in all we do. We provide space and platforms for others, not ourselves.
PLACE
We focus on local and put local first. We are a network of local partnerships, not a national infrastructure charity, driven by the needs and ambitions of our members and in turn their members and children and young people locally.
PRACTICE
We focus on good practice and quality which impacts on children and young people’s lives. We support quality standards and are ambitious in how good we need to be, and how good our members need to be.
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Justin Watson
CEO
Justin has worked in the third sector since 2002, primarily in youth and community development, focusing on participation, engagement and campaigning, most recently as Director of Young Manchester. He spent 7 years at Save the Children, leading their youth engagement and campaigning work, supporting a network of young campaigners across the UK to influence at local and national levels, before moving to Oxfam to head up the development of their domestic programme in 2014, focusing on women’s economic empowerment, food insecurity and inequality.
Before this Justin ran a number of youth engagement, campaigns and outreach projects at community level, supporting the direct provision of youth and play services as well as supporting children and young people to have meaningful involvement in issues that affect them and society more broadly, including climate change, education and rights for asylum seekers and refugees. He has an MA in Youth and Community Work from Brunel University, and is a Non-executive Director of Greater Manchester Poverty Action. In his spare time Justin volunteers for Reform Radio and runs a record label.
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Suzie Yassin
Director of Partnerships
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Dr Mon Partovi
Programme Manager – Supplementary Education
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Nikita Joshi
Communications Officer
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Lubna Alam
Administration Officer
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Pacale Vassie
Development Adviser - Supplementary Education
Young People's Foundations (YPFs)
Young People Foundations (YPFs) are locally established, cross-sectorial organisations that seek to sustain CYP delivery in a specific area. They are independent membership organisations open to any group that works with Children and Young People 0-25. Each YPF is different, working to a flexible model which is shaped by local needs and ambitions.
We are growing the number of YPFs across England, building a network of local partnerships in support of young people, and strengthening regional networks in partnership with the Network of Regional Youth Work Units and national partners.
History of Young People's Foundations
Young People’s Foundations were first established in North and West London, supported by John Lyon’s Charity (JLC), as a response to the pressures on the children and young people’s sector, including reductions in local and national investment in youth work. John Lyon’s Charity’s goal was to ensure that the organisations and groups that serve children and young people are strong, viable and fit for purpose.
The first YPF was established in 2014 in Brent before growing across the JLC Beneficial Area. The growth of the network nationally is now supported by JLC through core funding provided to YPF Trust and their wider role in supporting and advocating for People, Partnership and Place nationally.
