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£600,000 YES Fund Opens for 2026 – Continuing Major Impact for Young People Across Merseyside
The Community Foundation for Merseyside (CFM) is pleased to announce the reopening of the Youth Empowerment Scheme (YES Fund) for 2026, with £600,000 available for community groups, grassroots organisations and charities supporting young people across Merseyside.
Jointly delivered with the Merseyside’s Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC), Emily Spurrell, and the Merseyside Violence Reduction Partnership (MVRP), the YES Fund offers grants of £5,000–£25,000 for projects that prevent serious violence by creating positive opportunities for young people under 25.
Now entering its third year, YES has already demonstrated significant impact. Since 2024, more than £1 million has been invested, supporting nearly 25,000 young people with safe spaces, skills development, mentoring, wellbeing support, sports and arts programmes, and activities proven to steer young people away from danger, exploitation and anti-social behaviour.
For 2026, funding will again be targeted in areas most affected by serious violence and where youth services have faced the greatest cuts. Projects may run throughout the year, with a particular focus on periods when risks typically rise—such as summer holidays, autumn half term, Halloween and Bonfire Night.
“Over the past two years, the YES Fund has shown just how powerful early intervention can be. Thousands of young people have benefited from sport, arts, digital skills, mentoring and wellbeing support – all delivered by the incredible grassroots organisations which know their communities best. With another £600,000 available for 2026, we want to go even further.”
“We firmly believe that violence is preventable, not inevitable and we know that the public health approach works – YES is one of our strongest examples of that. Every single project funded in the past two years has helped divert young people away from harm and towards opportunities that help them thrive”
Georgia Probert, Interim Director of the MVRP, emphasising the public health approach
“It is so important to recognise and support the valuable community projects delivered throughout the year, including key periods such as the summer school holidays and Autumn half-term period, which allow young people to get involved in sporting, cultural, digital, educational and crucially, fun activities which keeps them safe and helps to both reduce and prevent violence and anti-social behaviour”
