A vital lifeline for young people in Merseyside is under threat as government funding for early support hubs is set to end in March 2026, leaving thousands of young people without easy access to mental health and wellbeing support.
YPAS (Young Person’s Advisory Service) operates from three hubs, as well as in schools and community venues across Merseyside, supporting a population of more than 250,000 children and young people. YPAS delivers from three Youth Access Mental Health Hubs which offer information, advice and counselling services, all free, accessible, and age-appropriate support for a wide range of needs. All YPAS services are shaped by the priorities and experiences of the children and young people who use them.
In 2024/25 alone, YPAS delivered 38,722 appointments and consultations of therapy and wellbeing support, primarily at its three community hubs. Since securing earlier Hub funding, YPAS has significantly expanded its reach: increasing drop-in access, extending opening hours, and providing wellbeing interventions alongside specialist talking therapies. These measures have allowed more young people to access early support before difficulties escalate into crisis.
But with central funding due to finish in March 2026, YPAS warns that without continued investment, many young people will have nowhere to turn. The loss of these hubs would sever a critical early-support network that bridges informal wellbeing services and more intensive clinical care.
Lorna Birrell, Therapeutic Operations Manager said “As an Operations Manager at YPAS, I’ve witnessed firsthand the critical role early support hubs play in the lives of children & young people across Merseyside. Removing funding for early support hubs would reverse years of progress in youth mental health. Sustained funding is not an option – it is a necessity. Ending funding for these hubs would silence a service that has given thousands the courage to ask for help.”
Mental health problems among children and young people are rising sharply, with one in five aged 8 – 25 now experiencing mental health conditions like anxiety or depression. Access to support remains limited: in July 2025 over 500,000 young were waiting to start NHS treatment, half of whom had been waiting over a year.
Since 2020, the national Fund the Hubs campaign has called for a national network of open-access hubs so young people can access effective early mental health support and advice in their community. Evidence shows that community-based interventions can be up to 100 times more cost-effective than inpatient or crisis care.
YPAS is one of 24 Early Support Hubs across England, which shared £15 million over two years to expand support, increase outreach, extend opening hours, support more young people, and strengthen links across health, education, and social care.
The Government’s Fit for the Future: 10-Year Health Plan promises to shift care closer to communities and focus on prevention. The Plan recognises the Government’s flagship Young Futures Hubs as a key mechanism to deliver embedded mental health support to children and young people in every local community.
However, with only 8 early adopter sites for Young Futures Hubs scheduled by March 2026, the ending of current Early Support Hub funding risks leaving thousands of young people without timely, local support. Losing these services would disrupt care, remove vital early support, and reduce access points for young people, causing needs to escalate and more young people to reach crisis point.
One parent whose child benefits from YPAS support said: “As a parent, having longer waiting times and less support available for my child influences my own mental health in a negative way. Waiting times are already too long and services for children are already struggling to cope with the demand. The government should not reduce funding for these vital services; it should increase funding.”
Cassandra Harrison, CEO of Youth Access said: “It’s hard to square the Government’s commitment to prevention and community support with its decision to end funding for early support hubs. These hubs deliver exactly what Ministers and young people say they want – fast, local help that stops problems before they reach crisis point. Pulling the plug now risks undoing years of progress and leaving thousands of young people without vital support.
We urge the Government to set out a clear plan for transitional funding to keep early support hubs open. Without it, vital services will vanish just as demand is rising – undermining the Young Futures vision before it’s even begun.”
Youth Access is the national network for local youth advice and counselling services.
- The previous Government announced almost £8 million for 24 early support hubs in February 2024, alongside an independent evaluation. This was extended for a further year by the current Government in March 2025.
- Early findings show that these Early Support Hubs are highly valued by young people for their accessibility, holistic approaches, and for fostering community, friendship, and consistency.
- The Labour Party Manifesto pledged to establish a network of Young Futures Hubs, ensuring that every community has an open-access hub offering drop-in mental health support for children and young people.
- The Government has since announced that eight hubs will be adopted this year, with a further 42 to be launched over the next four years.
- The Fund the Hubs campaign is led by national organisations British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy, the Children and Young People’s Mental Health Coalition, Centre for Mental Health, Black Thrive Global, Mind, The Children’s Society, YoungMinds, and Youth Access. In March 2025 they worked alongside existing services and young people to develop, A Blueprint for Young Futures Hubs which included recommendations on building on existing provision already embedded in local communities to avoid duplication, protect limited resources and enhance impact, as well as learning from the evaluation from the Early Support Hub pilot.
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