Finance, HR & Fundraising

The total funds at the year ended 31 Aug 2020 stands at £1,232,811; of which £1,157,226 was unrestricted and £75,585 restricted.

Unrestricted reserves increased by £80,346 (+6%), while restricted reserves increased by £35,919 (+90%).

You can download the full 2019/20 accounts here.

Fundraising

The principal funding sources for Youth First in 2019/20 were through grant and contract income thanks to the following organisations:

• London Borough of Lewisham
• GLA’s Young Londoners Fund
• Jack Petchey
• London Youth
• Lewisham Homes
• Phoenix Community Housing
• Home Office

During August 2019 - March 2021, 25 bids were submitted to grant organisations and foundations - with over £490,000 successfully raised outside of Youth First's contract with Lewisham. The majority of this money was restricted to specific projects and provision that directly benefit young people (such as What's The Risk? and The Woodpecker Carnival project).

As a not-for-profit organisation, Youth First relies on the generous support of individual donors, trusts and foundations in order to develop new work and project. We’re thankful to be supported by a number of individual and private donors, most of whom supported local youth activities at sites in the borough.

The move to become a Community Interest Company (and a registered charity under the Charities Commission) is an exciting next step for Youth Fist as it opens the doors to new funding opportunities that were previously unavailable.

HR

The Phase 1 restructure resulted in significant chances to our workforce both in terms of staff capacity and roles. As of April 2021 the workforce is made of 39 directly employed staff and 6 regular contractors and/or agencies. Employed staff currently equate to 21.25 FTE.

Youth First is proud to boast a diverse workforce with 86% of the directly employed staff from a Black, Asian or Minority background.