Youth Guarantee Trailblazer

Updated 25 June 2026

Round 2 is now live! Application deadline 19 July 2026.

Application pack, slides from the online briefings, plus a recording of one of the sessions are available further down this page.

Introduction

Published in November 2024, the Get Britain Working White Paper set out the Government’s plans to reform employment support, including £240m to test new ways of helping people back into work. This included £45m to establish eight Youth Guarantee Trailblazer (YGT) areas, including the Liverpool City Region.

The Liverpool City Region Youth Guarantee Trailblazer aims to test a range of approaches to help young people move into employment, education or training. Alongside Local Authority-led programmes, the LCR Combined Authority has allocated funding for a VCFSE sector community grant programme, managed by VOLA.

The programme supports 18–21-year-olds who are not in employment, education or training (NEET). It helps young people build confidence, overcome barriers and take positive steps towards employment, education or training.

The first grant round funded 35 projects, which collectively supported 500 young people between December 2025 and March 2026.

Funding available

£450,000 is available across the city region, to be allocated through this single funding round.

Applicants can apply for grants of between £10,000 and £40,000.

All funding must be fully spent (physically left the organisation’s bank account) by the end of March 2027.

Applying for more than one grant

Eligible organisations may submit more than one application. However, each application must relate to the specific Local Authority area where the project will be delivered.

Each borough-specific application must be deliverable and financially viable as a standalone project, even if applications for other boroughs are unsuccessful.

Who can apply?

Applications are invited from legally constituted, not-for-profit VCFSE sector organisations with an operational base in the Liverpool City Region.

Applicant organisations must have:

a governing document/ constitution;
at least two unrelated directors or trustees;
a bank account in the organisation’s own name, with at least two unrelated authorised signatories.

Organisations must also have been in existence for at least 12 months and be a going concern.

Financial standing, governance arrangements, capacity and capability will be checked through the due diligence process.

Further detail on eligible and ineligible organisations is provided in the funding specification.

Racial equality and support available

We actively welcome and support the submission of applications from organisations supporting Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic communities.

We aim to use plain English in all documentation wherever possible, although some technical terms may be unavoidable.

We will do our best to support applicants who experience language barriers. You may wish to use Google Translate. If this does not work well for you, please contact us and we will try to help.

Key themes for Community Grant investment

In line with LCR Combined Authority requirements, this community grants programme is limited to the themes listed below. Applications may address more than one theme within a single grant award.

Mental health support – including dealing with bereavement.
Support for those with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND).
Neurodivergent young people.
Support for those with a record of youth offending and recidivism.
Support for young, single parents.
Support to prevent substance misuse, including substances with high addictive potential such as ketamine; support for current drug users; and CPD for professionals working with drug users.
Care leavers and care experienced young people.
Support for those experiencing, or with experience of, homelessness.
Sector routeways – mentoring/ coaching and capacity-building in specific employment sectors.
Financial skills and money management.
Literacy & numeracy skills.
Softer skills, including confidence building, communication skills, team/ trust building.
Support for individuals who experience multiple barriers and disadvantage including at least one of the above.

We recognise that other issues may affect young people’s quality of life. However, themes outside the list above will not be considered as part of this grant programme.

Grant awards cannot duplicate or displace existing activities. Proposed projects must be for the sole benefit of Liverpool City Region residents.

Key timescales

19^th June 2026	Application launch
23^rd – 25^th June	Online briefings (complete – see below)
19^th July	Application deadline
9^th Sept	Outcome confirmed to applicants
11^th Sept	Mandatory briefing workshop – Mann Island, Liverpool
W/c 14^th Sept	Pre-grant due diligence, Grant Agreements issued, 1^st payment made, delivery commences
12^th March 2027	Delivery complete
31^st March-27	Final date for eligible project expenditure
30^th April-27	Evaluation report

Briefing Workshops

Thanks to those that took the time to attend one of the recent online briefing sessions. The purpose of the sessions was to help organisations to decide whether or not to apply, summarising the fund’s purpose, eligibility criteria, what can and cannot be funded, the application process, and the applicable rules and regulations.

The slides are available here.
Recording of one of the sessions can be viewed here.

Application documents

If you have difficulty accessing PDF files contact the team and we can provide them as Word files.

Enquiries

For enquiries, please email YGT@volamerseyside.org.uk. We aim to respond within five working days.

Privacy and Data Protection

People who sign up for support through a YGT-funded project will need to share some personal data as part of the enrolment process and again when their support programme ends.

The organisation delivering the project must share relevant participant data with VOLA, as grant programme manager. VOLA must then share this data with the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority, which is required to share it with the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), the funder of the Trailblazer programme.

Our commitment to you

We are committed to earning and maintaining the trust of everyone who uses our services. VOLA does not sell personal information or share it with other organisations for marketing or unrelated purposes. We use personal information only where it is needed to deliver our services.

All personal data held by VOLA is kept safe, secure and handled in line with the law. Anyone who has access to participant records, whether on paper or electronically, must keep that information confidential. This applies to everyone involved, including delivery organisations, VOLA, the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority and the DWP.

How your information is used

You can see the LCR Combined Authority’s YGT Privacy Notice here.

You can see VOLA’s Privacy Notice here.