Radical collaboration: Livity’s role in the Government’s new National Youth Strategy
For over two decades, Livity has operated on a single premise: work with young people, not just for them. Our methodology is rooted in the belief that those living the challenges are the ones best equipped to design the solutions. For the last year, I’ve had the privilege of bringing this Livity lens to the Expert Advisory Group (EAG) for the Government’s landmark 10-year National Youth Strategy: Youth Matters.
What is the National Youth Strategy?
At its core, Youth Matters is a 10-year, £500 million commitment to ensuring every young person has "people who care, places to go, and things to do." It identifies three radical shifts in how the state supports the next generation: moving from national to local, from fragmented to collaborative, and from excluded to empowered. The key pillars we have established include:
-
The Youth Guarantee: A promise of choices and chances for the nearly one million young people currently not in education or employment.
-
Young Futures Hubs: A £70 million program to launch 50 hubs by 2029, providing "one-stop-shops" where youth workers and mental health professionals work under one roof.
-
The Better Youth Spaces Fund: A £350 million investment to build or refurbish up to 250 youth facilities in the areas that need it most.
-
The Power of Trusted Adults: A £15 million investment to recruit and train youth workers, recognizing that a consistent, caring adult is the "golden thread" of support.
A Radical and Rigorous Approach
I want to specifically commend the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) for their leadership. It is encouraging to see a government department be so intentionally radical, ambitious, and rigorous in its commitment to co-creation. Rather than treating youth input as a tick-box exercise, DCMS embedded young voices into the very architecture of the strategy.
This rigor was personified by the Youth Advisory Group (YAG), a diverse cohort of young leaders who met monthly to challenge our assumptions. At Livity, we have lived and breath co-creation since day one, so seeing the YAG’s influence, rooted in a consultation of over 14,000 young people, serve as our north star was incredibly validating.
Breaking Silos: A Cross-Government Commitment
To move from a fragmented system to a collaborative one, DCMS has secured long-term commitments that link policy across the Cabinet. This includes working with the Department for Education (DfE) to put creativity back into the curriculum and the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) to rebuild local authority leadership.
Representing Livity on the EAG allowed us to collaborate with a powerhouse of organisations, including The National Youth Agency (NYA), UK Youth, The Prince’s Trust, and Youth Futures Foundation. Together, we ensured this strategy wasn’t just a policy paper, but a reimagining of the relationship between the state and the youth sector.
Looking Ahead
Seeing these principles at the heart of the strategy is a powerful validation of our long-held belief at Livity: that co-creation is no longer just an alternative approach for creativity, but can be an essential component of effective policy-making. I am incredibly proud of our contribution alongside so many brilliant partners and eager to see these promises turn into a reality where every young person has a future they truly helped design.
Related articles
5 Ways Brands Can Win in Today’s Sports Culture
For Gen Z, sport is culture, community and creativity, not just competition. Brands win by showing up authentically and co-creating experiences that resonate online and off.
Turning 18
Turning 18 captures how Gen Zalpha are coming of age in 2026, reshaping ideas of work, wellbeing, politics and culture.
The Great Gender Divergence
Gen Z’s growing gender divide is being fuelled by polarised politics and algorithm-driven online cultures pulling young men and women further apart. For brands, the challenge is clear: help bridge the gap, not deepen it.
