Below are the notes on what was discussed at the March meeting, amongst partners who are passionate about doing the best for our young people. It was agreed in the meeting that we will have bi-monthly meetings, a total of 6 per year, alternating between in-person and virtual. We will share dates (and calendar invites) for the remaining meetings of 2026 soon, with our next meeting taking place virtually in May.
Merton Youth Partnership (some context Merton Youth Partnership – MYP) was established in 2019, by Merton Connected, to explore ways that local voluntary, community, faith and social enterprise (VCFSE) organisations can partner to most effectively meet the needs of the borough’s young people. Since this time, it has grown into a vibrant network of organisations – spanning Sports, Arts and Culture, Employability, Crime Prevention, Disability and SEND, and more – that regularly meet to strengthen and support one another’s offerings through collaboration, sharing of resources and upskilling through training. Often welcoming colleagues from both the Private and Public sectors (including the Local Authority) to share cross-sector learning. It is currently facilitated by a passionate team of volunteers from the VCFSE sector (who began as members and also still run local VCFSE organisations).
Over the last few years, MYP has seen significant growth, both in its membership and its outputs. With notable successes, such as the Celebrate and Connect Youth Festival and Motivate Merton programme. The latter, a partnership of 11 local VCSE organisations, delivered mentoring to over 600 local young people and brought in almost £1 million to the sector over 3 years (with an additional £210,000 going directly to young people through employment programmes).
Despite this success, we are acutely aware of the several challenges facing the Youth Sector at present. For a long time, the provision of statutory and vocational services has been steadily reduced, leaving a massive expectation and undertaking for the voluntary sector. This increased demand has never been coupled with the necessary resources to meet it. Added to this is the current Cost of Living crisis, combined with the ongoing impacts of the global covid-19 pandemic, which continue to add immense strain on a sector already under incredible pressure. Partnership working is still largely constrained to funding cycles and the consistency and scale of funding are constantly under threat. Indeed, the current nature of most funding regimes inherently encourages competition between service providers, rather than partnership. As a result of this culture, we have seen a number of our members forced to close or significantly adapt and/ or reduce their services. The ultimate impact of this is a reduction in the opportunities and life chances of our young people.
The combination of the current strengths of and threats to the existing Partnership has made it apparent that MYP needs to formalise and strengthen its position. To transition from an informal partnership into a formal structure that is able to more effectively facilitate a sustainable, cross-sector, holistic and responsive youth offer. So, over the last few years, a key steering group have been exploring the various models available to us.
Our chosen model is the Young People’s Foundation model. Under this framework, we will become a registered charity with the Charity Commission – with a Board of Trustees, governing documentation, formal membership and an independent bank account.All YPFs are members of the YPF Trust, a national organisation that supports YPFs and promotes the model, as well as fundraising from national funders and working with Central Government. Central to the YPF model is the notion of equity, or “one member, one voice, one vote”, ensuring that there is parity between each member organisation, regardless of size or status. Pursuing this model was unanimously endorsed by MYP members in a formal vote in 2024.
The YPF model has been hailed as “favourable for youth delivery” by the Department for Culture, Media and Sports (DCMS) and has been recognised/supported widely by youth-centred organisations nationally, including National Youth Agency, YMCA, UK Youth, NRCSE, Partnership for Young London, and London Councils. For us, one of the model’s main strengths is its belief that no one size fits all. Localities are encouraged to take the main facets of the model and completely adapt them to respond to the needs of their local area. This is a real opportunity to make it easier and more desirable to collaborate and partner locally, combining resources rather than competing or duplicating. Building a sustainable model that has lasting change for young people, their families, the services that support them and the wider community of Merton. We will continue to keep you updated on our journey.
During this meeting, we heard from The Salvation Army – a worldwide Christian church and registered charity, which has been fighting against social inequality and supporting communities for over 150 years. They have over 650 churches and community centres where they offer friendship, practical help and support to some of the most disadvantaged people in society, regardless of ethnicity, religion, gender or sexual orientation.
The Local Branch, in Mitcham, offers several programmes locally. Three key projects shared were:
- Omnibus Project* – a mobile community hub based on a double-decker bus! It is a safe, welcoming third space where people of all ages can access support and social activities. It is in Mitcham Town Centre (6-7 Majestic Way, CR4 2JS) every Friday between 10.00am – 2.30pm.
- Coffee Morning – weekly morning of fun, games, refreshments and social support at Acacia Adventure Playround (230 Acacia Road, Mitcham, CR4 1SD) every Wednesday between 9.30am – 12.00pm.
- Hadley Road Community Allotment – together with the Morden Hall Park National Trust team, they are running weekly sessions in the Hadley Road Community Allotment (Hadley Road, CR4 1NU) every Wednesday between 4.00 – 5.00pm.
For more information on their provision, how you can get involved and support their offering, please get in touch with Stephen Moir at stephen.moir@salvationarmy.org.uk
*The Omnibus was recently featured on the BBC’s Songs of Praise. You can watch the short clip here – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_2zKs18TThI
Light Learning – Exploring Elections with your Young PeopleLight Learning is the informal training section of our meetings, designed to foster professional development, knowledge sharing, and skills building. These sessions typically feature short presentations, discussions, and/ or guest speakers. If you would like to facilitate a light learning session at one of our future meetings, sharing an area of expertise that you think partners might benefit from, then please get in touch!
This month, Fisayo Fadahunsi, Vice Chair of MYP, presented tools to help us all to support our young people to gain the knowledge, skills and confidence to engage in democracy. 2026 is an important year for local politics, with local elections to elect councillors to Merton Council. Their responsibilities include things like adult and child social care and support; maintaining green spaces; libraries, leisure and arts facilities; housing support; waste collection etc.
The session also covered ways to engage young people in conversations around politics and democracy, including simple, interactive games. The resources shared were developed by The Politics Project – a non-partisan democratic education and engagement organisation supporting young people to use their voice.
Resources from The Politics Project:
- E-Learning platform – you can find more information and resources on supporting young people to vote.
- At The Table toolkit of games
- Voter registration FAQs
- Making a plan to vote – slides to support young people to make a plan to vote.
- Paper Bin Game – a game that explores inequalities in voter registration between different groups.
- Other youth resources and games – a slide deck of the other games mentioned in this training.
Other resources:
- Electoral Commission resources – http://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/learning
- Democracy Classroom – democracyclassroom.com
- Commence Games – tabletop/card political strategy games.
- Dissent Games – 5x puzzles relating to registering to vote the pre-election period.
- Democracy 4 – a computer game democracy simulator. Roleplay as Prime Minister, deciding laws and policies.
- UK Parliament, MP for a week – a simple online game highlighting the competing challenges and decisions that must be made by MPs.
- ICivics education games (US) – online games about community, disagreement, and American political institutions.
Dates for your diary
- Time-sensitive updates (before our next meeting in May 2026) have been summarised below:
- Catch 22 is keen to engage in peer learning opportunities. If you have expertise that you can share with their team (they can pay £100 for your time), then please contact Owen at owen.liggett@catch-22.org.uk
- Merton Connected’s Community Employability Link Workers support residents across Merton who face barriers to work with support, including one-to-one guidance on CVs, job searching, interview preparation, confidence-building, training access, and referrals to specialist services. They are currently open to referrals. Please contact Nessa for more info at nessa@mertonconnected.co.uk
- Thursday 9th April 2026, 10 – 11am – RSPB x Young Merton Residential Info Meeting (Virtual)
Young Merton is collaborating with the RSPB to offer a unique opportunity to our members – a COMPLETELY FREE residential in the New Forest National Park for your beneficiaries. The meeting will be an opportunity for you to find out about the offer and express your interest in being involved. So, if you are a voluntary sector organisation that works with young people aged 11+ (up to 24 years old) then we really encourage you to come along.
You can join the meeting here: https://teams.microsoft.com/meet/31028408390902?p=OElMTLlJGoT0eIsYOW
Meeting ID: 310 284 083 909 02
Passcode: Bj7UP6Jd
- Saturday 18th April 2026, 11.59pm – Merton Connected Volunteer Awards Nomination Deadline
- Thursday 4th June 2026 – Merton Connected Volunteer Awards
The Merton Partnership Civic Pride Volunteer Awards is the Borough’s annual celebration to acknowledge and give thanks for the tremendous contribution that local volunteers make to the life of the Borough. Each year, thousands of residents, young and old, dedicate more than 40,000 volunteer hours to help make the Borough of Merton a pleasant place to live, work and learn. There are 10 categories, three specifically for those under 25). You can nominate a volunteer (or team of volunteers) here.
- Tuesday 21st April 2026, 1 – 430pm – Merton Safeguarding Children Partnership (MSCP) Trusted Youth Allies (Virtual)
- Thursday 30th April 2026, 1 – 3pm – MSCP Multi Agency Safeguarding Training (Virtual)
The Merton Safeguarding Children Partnership (MSCP) is a statutory, multi-agency group in Merton, UK, that coordinates and ensures the effectiveness of local arrangements to protect children and promote their welfare. It brings together local services (health, police, council) to set safeguarding strategies, train professionals, and monitor performance, aiming to keep children safe in their homes and communities. You can find a full list of their free training here.
That’s it for a rather extensive, but we hope informative, update.
You are welcome to join the next meeting!
The Merton Youth Partnership Steering Group