Youth Development is Everyone’s Responsibility
From local practice to national policy, shared action must follow shared insight.
Putting Youth Development in Focus
Adolescence in Scope is YOUTHOOD’s national insight and impact community. A space for organisations, professionals, and families who believe that youth development deserves more focus, more protection, and more ambition.
Why This Community Exists
Too often, youth development is treated as an afterthought — scattered across disconnected services, overlooked in national policy, and overburdened at the local level.
Adolescence in Scope exists to change that.
We are building a cross-sector community that puts youth development in focus. Not just as a priority, but as a protected national standard.
What We’re Building Together
More than a network. A reimagined effort.
Adolescence in Scope is a national community of organisations who believe youth development needs to be treated with the same intentionality and investment as any other critical social function.
We are not just exchanging ideas, we’re co-designing tools, rethinking systems, and putting youth development into structural focus. From safeguarding leads to social workers, from school leaders to campaigners, from youth clubs to carers, YOUTHOOD bringing together those who see adolescence not just as a challenge, but as a shared responsibility.
Together, we aim to:
Rebuild cross-sector trust around what youth development should look like
Put lived and professional insight at the centre of decision-making
Shift the culture from systems firefighting to future-building
Turn conversations into co-owned structures, frameworks, and policy reform
Youth development doesn’t belong to one service, one role, or one sector. It’s shaped by the people, places, and policies that surround a young person every day, and that means the responsibility must be shared. Adolescence in Scope exists to make that shared responsibility visible, valued, and actionable.
Our Ask To Our Community
Being part of Adolescence in Scope means being part of a living community; one where insight becomes action, and action becomes influence. We understand not every organisation can contribute in the same way, but we invite all members to engage where possible by:
Promoting upcoming Dual-LENS consultations to your staff or youth networks
Offering insight, feedback, or case experience to shape national campaigns
Hosting or contributing to learning and reflection spaces
Amplifying YOUTHOOD campaigns in your newsletters, networks, or events
Advocating for youth development as a structural, protected priority
This isn’t about extra workload. It’s about collective ownership of a national conversation, and making sure the voices and values of those who know young people best are leading it.
How We Contribute in Return
Our role is to hold the centre; connecting insight, experience, and power to shape something bigger than any one service.
Here’s what we commit to:
Running Dual-LENS Consultations to bring young people and professionals into shared reflection
Developing youth-led delivery work like NXTSTEP, Katalyst and Off Topic, with advisory boards and policy goals
Co-producing practical tools for schools, youth workers, and public services
Influencing national policy through our Policy Unit
Creating spaces for shared learning, from roundtables to pilot labs to digital reflection events
This is not a one-way model. We will elevate your voices, share back our learnings, and keep this community in motion. Not just as a list of names, but a living force for change.
Join Adolescence in Scope Today!
This is more than a mailing list. This is a call to co-create the future of youth development.
Right now, YOUTHOOD is launching two major national campaigns that aim to transform the adolescent experience:
Katalyst — a campaign for equity in career readiness, access, and long-term support
Off Topic — a campaign to rethink the student experience, from mental health to belonging, voice, and wellbeing
But these campaigns won’t move without you.
We are currently inviting schools, local authorities, youth services, charities, and research/policy organisations to become the founding members of Adolescence in Scope, our national insight and impact community.
By joining now, your organisation will:
Be part of shaping our Dual-LENS consultations on careers and student wellbeing
Gain early access to campaign content and advisory opportunities
Join a national cross-sector movement putting youth development back where it belongs: in focus
Help us build the infrastructure for insight-sharing, co-design, and structural change across the UK