NUM Receives Funding for Youth Justice
28 January 2026
National Ugly Mugs is excited to be awarded £150,000 in funding over three years from the Paul Hamlyn Foundation!
Since 2020, more young adults have been accessing NUM services. In a recent subsample of NUM members, over 50% are under 30. In 2024, 45% (n=1,130) of members receiving direct support through casework, drop-ins, events, and vocational services were under 30. NUM will dedicate the next three years to engaging young adults (18–25) in leadership activities that visibilise their needs and priorities; improve safety and rights; and advance health, wellbeing, and social justice.
Meet Ella, the Youth Justice lead:
Check out our Meet the Team page for more info on Ella’s work with National Ugly Mugs
Project Aims
- Youth leadership: paid roles and real decision-making power.
- Youth wisdom: toolkits, talks, eLearning, policy briefings, media, and research platforms to share lived experience.
- Youth influence: embed youth perspectives in national strategies and student policy discussions.
- Youth Voice: campaigns to challenge stigma and poverty and improve safety.
- Youth-led partnerships: work with universities and student unions to boost awareness, rights, and violence prevention.
- Youth-led service design: expand digital and in-person services and enhance emergency and casework tailored to young adults.
Young adults from diverse backgrounds—especially those facing structural, interpersonal, and intersectional violence—will shape NUM’s work and influence decision-makers across sectors that affect their safety, opportunities, and life-chances.