Julia Rausing Trust gives £3 million to UK Youth Fund
Howard Lake | 15 September 2026 | News
The Julia Rausing Trust has committed £3 million to the UK Youth Fund, topping up an existing £10 million commitment from Pears Foundation and bringing the fund’s total value to £13 million. The fund provides small youth work and outdoor learning organisations across the UK with long-term, unrestricted grants.
The grant builds on a longstanding relationship between The Julia Rausing Trust and UK Youth. Through the fund, small organisations working with young people receive multi-year, unrestricted funding intended to give them greater flexibility to retain experienced staff, respond to rising demand and plan with more confidence than short-term grants typically allow.
Funders working together
Simon Fourmy, Chief Executive of The Julia Rausing Trust, said:
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“Small youth organisations play an invaluable role in communities across the UK, providing opportunities, guidance and support to young people at important stages in their lives. We believe strongly in the value of funders working together, combining resources and experience around shared goals to achieve greater impact.”
Sir Trevor Pears CMG, Chair of Pears Foundation, said the ambition behind the original £10 million commitment was “not only to support hundreds of outstanding youth organisations, but to make the case for a different way of funding them”, adding that the Trust’s £3 million commitment means “many more small youth organisations can benefit from the long-term, flexible support they need”.
Rosie Ferguson, Chief Executive of UK Youth, said unrestricted, multi-year funding “can make a transformational difference to small organisations”, giving them “the confidence and flexibility to make decisions based on what will have the greatest impact, rather than being constrained by short-term funding cycles”.
UK Youth said it will continue to press government, nationally and locally, for sustained investment in youth work and outdoor learning.
More information on the fund is available from UK Youth. Details of the Trust’s wider giving are on The Julia Rausing Trust‘s website.
- Rausing trusts to combine into Julia Rausing Trust (9 October 2024)
- Julia Rausing Trust partners with Sky Foundation to fund dance bursaries (6 August 2026)
- £1 million Sir Alec Reed prize awards to UK Youth (6 December 2024)
About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale.
He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.