How to Set Up a Youth Group

Start with the local council

Your first call should be to your local council. Most councils have a youth services team, or someone responsible for children and community safety, who can point you in the right direction. They know what already exists, where the gaps are, and what the council expects from anyone running activities for under 18s. Many councils also hold data on youth needs in different wards and can tell you about specific issues affecting young people locally.

Ask whether they have written guidance for new groups, whether any small grants are available, and whether they can introduce you to people already running clubs. Other youth workers often share templates for consent forms and risk assessments rather than have you start from scratch.

Work out what the group is for

Before you book a hall or print a flyer, think about who the group is for and what they want from it. Talk to young people in the area, speak to local schools, and run a short survey if you can. Free tools like Google Forms make this straightforward, and schools or youth workers can often help distribute it.

Write down a simple plan covering the age range, activities, meeting frequency, and what you hope the group will achieve. Funders and the council will want to see something like this, and it forces you to be realistic about what you can deliver.

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Finding a venue and funding

Church halls, scout huts, community centres and sports halls are the usual options, but schools sometimes hire rooms out of hours, and some libraries and housing association rooms will consider regular bookings. Whatever you pick, the space needs to feel welcoming. Check accessibility, fire safety, first aid provision and disabled toilets. Ask to see the venue's health and safety policy and fire risk assessment.

Running a youth group costs money: venue hire, insurance, equipment, snacks and training all add up. Draw up a simple budget listing expected costs alongside any income you have or expect. Places to look for funding include:

• The National Lottery Community Fund
• UK Youth and its grant programmes
• Local community foundations
• Your local council and parish or town council
• Local businesses and supermarket community schemes

Be clear about what the group does, who it reaches, how much you need and what the money will pay for. Grant rounds often have fixed deadlines and decisions can take two or three months, so plan applications well ahead. Setting up as a constituted community group makes applications easier, since many funders will not give money to individuals. If your income rises above £5,000 a year, you must register with the Charity Commission.

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Safeguarding, insurance and the legal side

Any group working with under 18s needs a written safeguarding policy, clear procedures for reporting concerns, and a named safeguarding lead. The NSPCC Learning website has free templates aimed at small voluntary groups.

Anyone in regulated activity will need an enhanced DBS check including the Children's Barred List. Read the Disclosure and Barring Service guidance on what regulated activity means before applying. Checks must be done through a registered body. Training in safeguarding, and ideally first aid, is expected by most councils and funders.

If any work happens online, you need a digital safeguarding policy covering which platforms are used, whether sessions are recorded, how private messages are handled, and how concerns are reported. The NSPCC and Childnet publish practical guidance on this.

You will need public liability insurance: most insurers suggest at least £5 million of cover, and some venues require £10 million. Specialist providers such as Zurich and Morton Michel offer policies for youth groups. Do a written risk assessment and review it regularly. The Health and Safety Executive has short guides for small organisations.

Sort parental consent forms, emergency contacts, a code of conduct, and a data protection approach that fits UK GDPR. The Information Commissioner's Office has straightforward guidance for small organisations.

Getting started

The first few sessions set the tone. Be consistent about timings, expected behaviour, and how decisions get made. Keep asking young people what they want and be willing to change the programme. Some ideas will fall flat; others will take off unexpectedly. Expect numbers to fluctuate, especially in the first year.

Build youth involvement into how the group runs: a small advisory group or rotating slot on planning meetings gives members a real say. Set aside time every few months to review attendance, activities and feedback. A short end of year review helps your own planning and makes future funding applications easier to write.

The Next Step

Now that you have read through the advice above, you might want to put it into practice. Our Youth Group Game Finder lets you match games to your specific group needs by filtering across age, group size, space, and activity type. Try it now →