How we are funded

The Youth Sport Trust champions investment in Physical Education and youth sport and we campaign for them to have a prominent place within education and youth policy.

We work to improve the provision of PE and youth sport by using any funding we secure to:

  • Train teachers, coaches and young people
  • Provide opportunities for young people to enjoy high quality, inclusive sport and play
  • Promote the value of PE, sport and play through campaigning and research.

We raise funds from a number of sources in order to deliver our mission: we bid to other charities, trusts and grant giving bodies, we apply to lottery distributors, we tender for government contracts and we work in partnership with businesses through sponsorships and corporate social responsibility projects. We are also lucky enough to benefit from a number of passionate fundraisers who every year take part in numerous challenges to raise funds to support our work.

Like many charities we also have a wholly owned trading subsidiary - Youth Sport Trust Enterprises (formerly known as Youth Sport Direct). Its purpose is to generate unrestricted income for the charity through commercial activity. At the end of each financial year, 100% of the surplus generated by the trading company is gift aided to the charity to support its activities in the following year. 

Our income in 2021/22

In total, the Youth Sport Trust secured funding of £11,691,995 to improve young people’s lives through sport and play in 2021/22. This was made up of:

  • Trusts and Foundations - £770,697
  • Fundraising and donations - £170,242
  • Corporate partnerships - £318,055
  • Membership income - £595,338
  • Commissioned development work - £2,067,263
  • Research - £5,400
  • Central government contracts - £374,425
  • Sport England - £6,521,273
  • Local government contracts - £360,541
  • Home nations - £280,641
  • Commercial events and activities - £185,134
  • Miscellaneous - £42,986

In addition to this, our not-for-profit trading subsidiary Youth Sport Trust Enterprises donated its surplus from commercial trading activity which amounted to £52,274.