Youth services are now more than bricks and mortar, with mobile, or detached youth work meeting young people ‘where they are’. Over recent months, many applications to the Better Youth Spaces fund have been geared towards funding for vehicles – to allow young people to experience enrichment opportunities further afield, but also to reach those who might otherwise be overlooked.
In a 2024 report for the Department of Culture, Media and Sport, mobile services for young people were identified as a key part of an evolving landscape for youth service provision. A sentiment that was echoed by the National Youth Agency in their 2021 ’Overlooked’ report. They identified a need for more community transport options, calling on capital funding to include minibuses and mobile youth services.
Unlocking potential
Better Youth Spaces is helping services unlock potential for new provision and navigate the need to offer outreach services by delivering funding for vehicles. Already the fund has approved over 50 grants for vehicles to the tune of £1.7m.
Projects that have already got the green light…
Anima Youth is London’s leading specialist girls and young women’s organisation, tackling gender-based violence by providing safe spaces, holistic support, and leadership platforms.
Anima Youth received a grant for their ‘Safe Space on Wheels’ – a mobile, detached youth work space co-designed by girls, for girls aged 12-18.
Eloise Ofori, Chief Executive for Anima, said: “The mobile Safe space van will travel to open access locations in Lambeth after school and on weekends, including estates, parks, and community hubs, bringing our trusted Safe Space environment directly to those unable to reach our existing physical Safe Space girls youth club in Croydon. Safe Space on Wheels will enable us to reach more girls where they feel safest and most seen, without barriers.”
Soft Touch Arts Ltd aims to use inspiring arts, music, cooking and heritage projects to support and develop vulnerable young people in Leicester and Leicestershire.
Danny Myers, co-Director, explains: “Part of our Better Youth Spaces grant will pay for a new minibus to improve the reach of our activities. We hope this will enable at least 500 additional visits a year to our high spec art and music studios in our city centre youth arts centre. For young people who live on the city’s estates on the edge of Leicester, sometimes just the bus fare or even maybe a nervousness around travelling into the city centre are a barrier to accessing what we can offer here.”
Mahdlo is a purpose-built facility in Oldham for young people aged 8–19 (up to 25 with additional needs). They provide a safe, inclusive, and inspiring environment to explore potential, build friendships, and gain skills for life and work.
A “Scran Van” will take free nutritious food and interactive activities into local parks and streets, extending their reach and building relationships with youth not currently engaged in services.
Mahdlo, CEO, Lucy Lees, explains: “We will create a new, accessible, outdoor fully-equipped kitchen, enabling young people to grow, cook, and share healthy meals both on site as well as supplying the Scran Van. An enterprise programme will equip participants with skills, confidence, and pathways toward future employment.”
London DJ & MC Academy CIC has almost 18 years of experience empowering people from marginalised backgrounds through music, creative arts, and community engagement.
“With the Better Youth Spaces grant we will purchase and equip an electric mobile creative youth unit to take music, DJing, dance and digital skills sessions to disadvantaged estates and youth hotspots across Enfield”.
“Co-designed with young people, the vehicle is a safe, inclusive extension of our youth space and unique outreach tool, with onboard power, PA and accessibility adaptations. It is a non-like-for-like sustainable energy focused upgrade to an ageing petrol van that is costly to repair, increasing reliability and reducing emissions in line with government and organisational goals.”
Direction of travel
Youth work in 2025 needs to consider access, adaptability and inclusion as youth organisations respond to real challenges of cost of living, rural isolation, safety and safeguarding, and shrinking public spaces. Vehicles are not just transport but connectivity tools, helping to overcome barriers of geography, disability and deprivation.
From converted vans doubling as recording studios to minibuses bringing youth workers directly into rural communities, mobility is reshaping how youth services reach young people. Vans and minibuses open up opportunities: they bridge rural gaps, bring inclusion for diverse groups of young people, and help youth workers meet young people in the spaces they already feel comfortable.
Your roadmap to funding
If you’re delivering or planning a project that could use a vehicle, whether it’s expanding access or creating mobile youth spaces, the Better Youth Spaces fund could help you motor ahead. You could apply for a new, or ‘new to you’ minibus or van, or, if you already have a vehicle, you could apply for funding for renovations and modifications to fuel further youth work.
Visit our website to find out how to apply for better Youth Spaces Round 2 funding.
