UK Youth Joined Up Institute (Fully Funded)

The Joined Up Institute is a free, funded year-long professional development programme designed to strengthen collaboration across the services that support young people in Leicester. This ambitious pilot will bring together 300 emerging leaders from across sectors to learn together, build lasting relationships, and lead meaningful change.

If you’re passionate about improving how youth-facing services work and working together, this programme is for you.

Why it matters

Young people’s lives are shaped by complex systems, from schools and health services to youth services and local government. But too often, these systems don’t join up. That’s why we’re investing in leaders who want to bridge those gaps and make a real difference.

The Joined Up Institute is about doing things differently, working across boundaries, listening deeply, and building a stronger, more connected community for young people in Leicester.

Regardless of the sector you work in, and whether you support young people directly or indirectly, the thing you all have in common is wanting to improve young people’s lives and futures.

The Joined Up Institute will help you learn about what’s working in other sectors and how it could work in your context.

You’ll take part in three in-person learning days, online workshops, and communities of practice all shaped by local voices through our co-design process.

The JUI is a professional development programme aimed at supporting and connecting the change makers of tomorrow.

We will be prioritizing applications from emerging leaders. There are various ways this could be interpreted; for instance:

1. You may be in a position (a paid role or in a voluntary capacity) where you can influence the practice of others and help shape positive outcomes for young people (e.g., you may be a middle leader within your organisation, a well-networked practitioner, or a member of a board or advisory group)
2. You would like to take an active leadership role in influencing the hearts and minds of other people in the sector, and a wider set of decision-makers
3. You have a vision of how you want your role to evolve and shape youth futures.

Summary

1. Application Deadline: July 16, 2025
2. Category: Fully Funded Training
3. Opportunity Locations: United Kingdom
4. Eligible Locations: United Kingdom
5. Sponsor Organisation: UK Youth

Eligibility Criteria for UK Youth Joined Up Institute (Fully Funded)

In order to join the programme, an applicant must:

1. Be at least 18 years old
2. Working or volunteering in a youth-facing sector
3. Carrying out this role in the city of Leicester
4. Be able to commit 6 days during working hours across the year to the programme. We strongly encourage you to discuss this programme with your Line Manager and direct them to the website to find out more information

Benefits of UK Youth Joined Up Institute (Fully Funded)

As a participant in the Joined Up Institute, you’ll:

1. Build deeper relationships across sectors and communities.
2. Learn what’s working in other areas and explore what could work better.
3. Lead change in new and complex contexts
4. Grow personally and professionally as part of a supportive and diverse cohort.

How to Apply

Applications are reviewed on potential over credentials and they are looking to see the following 4 attributes in your application.

Purpose: Looks at personal/lived experience, values, and motivation

Growth: Looks at openness to learning, self-awareness, and desire for development

Agency: Looks at vision, commitment to change, and willingness to challenge the status quo

Relationships: Looks at collaboration, network-building, and system leadership mindset

There are 4 sections to the application and it will take between 30 and 45 minutes to complete.

Personal details

1. Here we ask for standard information, including your contact details, current employer/organization you volunteer for, sector and role details.

Application Questions

1. So that we can understand why you want to join the programme, we ask you two questions. You can either write an answer in 250 words per question or email in a 2– minute video or audio file for each question to joined_up@ukyouth.org. Please be sure to include your full name in the file title.

Inclusion Section

1. We ask for some details that might feel irrelevant or intrusive but we want to make sure the JUI is accessible to everyone and we can only do this by gathering this information. You are welcome to select ‘prefer not to say’ for all questions.

Consent

1. Please confirm you are happy to be contacted as part of The Joined Up Institute and your data to be stored. You can view full details of our privacy policy here.

Apply Now

Want to learn more before applying?

1. Join one of our weekly info webinars, every Thursday at 10am, to hear more about the programme and ask your questions.
2. Sign up to a weekly webinar
3. Download our applicant pack

View details of UK Youth Joined Up Institute

Apply for UK Youth Joined Up Institute

Application Deadline

16 July, 2025

Application Link(s)

• Apply for UK Youth Joined Up Institute (Fully Funded)