Caudwell Youth

What Caudwell Youth does

Caudwell Youth is a UK-registered charity (no. 1200757) founded in 2022 by philanthropist John Caudwell, who also founded Caudwell Children in 2000. It delivers one-to-one volunteer mentoring to at-risk young people aged 11–24 across five regional areas — Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire, Luton, Milton Keynes, and Slough — plus a specialist 12-week Shaping Futures Programme for serious-violence behaviours delivered in partnership with Thames Valley Police and Buckinghamshire Council. Each mentoring relationship lasts up to 18 months and is delivered through a referral pipeline from schools, social services, youth offending teams, CAMHS, and self-referral, overseen by Youth Support Coordinators. The model is explicitly relationship-based and youth-led, with a Caudwell Youth Collective feeding beneficiary voice into organisational decisions. There is no proprietary technology platform; delivery is human-led using Squarespace, Mailchimp, and Beacon Forms for web, email, and donation infrastructure.

The business model is non-profit and donation-funded. Services are free to beneficiaries, with each mentoring programme costing approximately £3,000 per year (~£15 per session). FY2024/5 gross income was £1.1M, of which the founder matches 33% (covering most administration costs), with the balance from individual donations, challenge events (London Marathon, Atlantic rowing, Kilimanjaro), corporate and foundation giving (EQ Foundation, Big Give match), and institutional grants — most notably a £498,120 three-year award from The National Lottery Community Fund secured in March 2026. In 2024/5 the charity supported 404 young people (a 39% YoY increase) via 236 volunteer mentors delivering 13,981 hours of support, with reported outcomes including 83% improved mental health, 95% reduced offending, and a £6.05-per-£1 social return on investment. The 2026–2030 'Going National' strategy commits to tripling beneficiaries and launching online mentoring as the first national programme beyond the current regional footprint.

Name

Caudwell Youth

Legal name

Caudwell Youth

Website

https://caudwellyouth.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2022

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Youth Mentoring and Support Services

NAICS

Child and Youth Services (62411), Child and Youth Services (624110), Educational Support Services (611710)

akta.pro primary industry

Youth Mentoring & Positive Youth Development Nonprofits (BPAGADAD)

akta.pro secondary industries

Youth Justice, At-Risk Youth & Violence Prevention Nonprofits (BPAGADAM), Youth Mental Health, Counseling & Wellbeing (Education-Linked) Nonprofits (BPAGADAK), Student Mentoring & Peer Support Programs (EDAJALAL), Dropout Prevention, Alternative Education & Re-Engagement Nonprofits (BPAGADAL)

Keywords

• Youth mentoring services
• Volunteer mentoring programs
• At-risk youth support
• Charity mentoring
• Youth intervention services

Headquarters

HQ city

Broughton

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Individual donations and fundraising: The charity raises funds through individual donors, marathon runners, challenge event participants, and general fundraising activities. The founder John Caudwell matches 33% of all income.
2. Institutional grants and government funding: Caudwell Youth receives large institutional grants such as £498,120 over three years from The National Lottery Community Fund to secure core mentoring work in Hertfordshire and recruit volunteer mentors.
3. Corporate and partner donations: Support from corporate donors and charitable foundations including the EQ Foundation, which co-funded the Big Give Christmas appeal with match funding.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels10 records

Core offering

Caudwell Youth is a registered charity providing free one-to-one volunteer mentoring for at-risk young people aged 11-24 for up to 18 months. The charity also delivers the specialist Shaping Futures Programme for young people vulnerable to serious violence, in partnership with Thames Valley Police and Buckinghamshire Council. The Caudwell Youth Collective enables young people to shape the charity's programmes and direction.

Product overview

Caudwell Youth operates as a single-programme charity offering mentoring and youth-led support services for at-risk young people aged 11-24. The core offering is the One-to-One Mentoring Programme, which provides long-term mentoring relationships for up to 18 months. This is supplemented by the specialist Shaping Futures Programme, which addresses serious violence through a partnership with Thames Valley Police and Buckinghamshire Council. The Caudwell Youth Collective provides youth governance and involvement. The organisation does not operate as a software platform or SaaS product.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• One-to-One Mentoring Programme
• Shaping Futures Programme
• Caudwell Youth Collective

Quantifiable outcome

• 83% improved mental health
• +8 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered major and core.

• Big GivemajorGTM or Marketing Partner · 2 December 2025Big Give is a charitable giving platform that hosted Caudwell Youth's 2025 Christmas appeal 'Mentoring Makes Magic'. The platform's match funding mechanism doubled all donations made during the campaign week, with additional match funding from John Caudwell and the EQ Foundation.
• Thames Valley PolicecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThames Valley Police is a key partner in the Shaping Futures Programme, a specialist intervention targeting young people aged 11–24 vulnerable to serious violence issues such as knife crime. The programme operates in Buckinghamshire in partnership with Buckinghamshire Council, aiming to reduce violent behaviour, exploitation, and offending while improving young people's wellbeing and life chances.
• Buckinghamshire CouncilcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerBuckinghamshire Council partners with Caudwell Youth and Thames Valley Police on the Shaping Futures Programme, which focuses on young people vulnerable to serious violence. The council provides funding and local authority oversight, contributing to the delivery of intensive support for at-risk young people in Buckinghamshire.

Scale indicators16 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• The Prince's Trust: Large UK charity supporting disadvantaged young people aged 11–30 through mentoring, training, and personal development — overlapping beneficiary cohort and mentoring model but operating at national scale with a much broader programme portfolio.
• Action for Children: National UK charity supporting vulnerable children and young people through mentoring, family support, and care-leaver services — overlapping in target population and intervention philosophy.
• Barnardo's: Major UK children's charity running mentoring, exploitation-prevention, and care-leaver support programmes with comparable beneficiary profile to Caudwell Youth, though at vastly greater scale and with a broader service mix.
• The Children's Society: National UK charity supporting disadvantaged children and young people through mentoring, exploitation-prevention, and mental health programmes — comparable beneficiary focus and intervention model.

Direct peers

• Safer London Foundation: London-based charity working with young people affected by violence and exploitation, including mentoring programmes — directly comparable in mission to Caudwell Youth's Shaping Futures offering.
• Catch22: UK social business delivering youth mentoring, violence prevention, and exploitation support — directly comparable Shaping Futures-style interventions for at-risk young people aged 11–24.
• Khulisa: UK charity delivering mentoring and therapeutic interventions for at-risk young people, particularly those excluded from school or involved in offending behaviour — a close direct comparator for Caudwell Youth's violence-prevention work.
• Mentor Link UK: UK charity providing long-term volunteer mentoring to disadvantaged young people aged 11–21 across multiple regions — directly comparable programme design, duration, and beneficiary cohort.
• Big Brothers Big Sisters UK: UK youth mentoring charity pairing at-risk young people with volunteer adult mentors for long-term one-to-one relationships — the closest direct functional peer to Caudwell Youth's core mentoring programme.

Emerging players

• Reform Synergy / Trailblazer Mentoring: UK social enterprise providing early-intervention mentoring for at-risk youth, including those vulnerable to county lines and exploitation — an emerging direct peer operating in overlapping geographies.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/CaudwellYouth
• Facebookfacebook.com/CaudwellYouth

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles17 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Caudwell Youth