Julia Rausing Trust awards £10 million to prevent youth homelessness
Howard Lake | 30 October 2026 | News
The Julia Rausing Trust has awarded grants totalling almost £10 million to 31 organisations working to prevent and tackle youth homelessness across the UK, with a major focus on early intervention.
The announcement coincided with a Downing Street summit on ending rough sleeping, to which 70 groups from businesses, faith groups, housing organisations, civil society and the impact economy were invited. The Trust’s media team says the Prime Minister has described homelessness as a cause of the utmost importance to his government and to society.
Early intervention at the heart of the programme
Centrepoint, the UK’s leading youth homelessness charity, receives the largest grant, £2.5 million, to expand Upstream England. The school-based programme works with 11 to 16-year-olds who are at risk of disengaging from education and experiencing homelessness in the future.
Advertisement
The grant follows a £3 million donation from Julia and Hans Rausing to Centrepoint in 2022, which supports its Independent Living Programme. That programme gives vulnerable 18 to 25-year-olds who are homeless or at risk a home, alongside access to a job or apprenticeship.
Further grants will develop Upstream approaches in the other nations: £1 million to The Rock Trust for work in Scotland, £500,000 to Llamau in Wales and £250,000 to MACS Supporting Children in Northern Ireland. Together with Centrepoint’s award, that is £4.25 million for Upstream work.
Seyi Obakin OBE, Chief Executive of Centrepoint, said the Trust’s focus on prevention was “particularly inspiring”. Upstream, which was pioneered in the UK by Llamau, can help ensure many more young people are protected “from ever having to experience the devastating trauma of homelessness”, he added.
31 organisations across all four nations
Other recipients include The Albert Kennedy Trust, Depaul UK, St Basils, Young Devon, 1625 Independent People, Streetlife and several Nightstop services.
Grantees will use the funding to run programmes that prevent young people from becoming homeless or support those facing difficult circumstances, in regions across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Simon Fourmy, Chief Executive of The Julia Rausing Trust, said the Trust was “increasingly focusing on prevention”, which means recognising warning signs earlier and giving young people the right support before difficulties become a crisis. He hopes the programme will help the organisations “reach many more people” and build wider momentum around preventing youth homelessness.
A longstanding priority for the Rausings
Tackling homelessness was a longstanding priority in the philanthropy of Julia and Hans Rausing. Since 2014, the charitable trusts associated with their giving have donated a total of £35 million to organisations working in the sector.
Sir Hans Rausing said homelessness “can have a profound and lasting impact at a formative time in a young person’s life”. His wife Julia, he added, “believed deeply in supporting people facing the greatest challenges”.
Sir Hans established The Julia Rausing Trust in memory of Julia, who died in 2024. She co-founded The Julia and Hans Rausing Trust in 2014 and was instrumental in building it into one of the largest philanthropic funds in the UK, donating £400 million to causes across health, welfare and the arts. The Julia Rausing Trust is a registered charity (number 1213572).
All the grantees
The full list of grantees comprises:
Centrepoint; The Rock Trust; Llamau; MACS Supporting Children; The Albert Kennedy Trust; Greater Change Foundation; YMCA Leicestershire; Open Homes Nottingham; Herts Young Homeless Group; Depaul UK; Settle Support; New Horizon Youth Centre; Moving On (Durham) Ltd; Key Community; Key Unlocking Futures Ltd; Streetlife; Step by Step Partnership Limited; The Clock Tower Sanctuary; Youth Concern; Sussex Nightstop; 1625 Independent People; Young Devon; YMCA Cornwall; City of Exeter YMCA; St Basils; Doorway; Redditch Nightstop; Nightstop Wyre Forest and South Worcestershire; Safe and Sound Homes; Young Women’s Housing Project; and Bradford Nightstop.
- Julia Rausing Trust gives £3 million to UK Youth Fund (15 September 2026)
- Julia Rausing Trust gives £1 million grant to St Martin-in-the-Fields Charity (29 January 2026)
- Julia & Hans Rausing donate £3 million to Centrepoint (25 February 2022)
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.