Youth4youth

What Youth4youth does

Youth4Youth is a UK-registered charity (Charity Number 1194937; Company Number 09170949) that provides free, peer-to-peer mentoring and online support resources to young people aged 10 to 25. Founded in 2011 by Josh Towers at age 14 under the name Teenage Helpline, the organisation initially operated as an agony-aunt style blog, temporarily closed in August 2015, and relaunched in November 2020 as a national-scale peer mentoring service. The charity rebranded to Youth4Youth in January 2025 and is headquartered in Southampton with a registered office in London, operating entirely remotely with approximately 100 co-workers comprising a small paid staff and a much larger volunteer base. The beneficiary model pairs young people aged 10-25 with trained peer mentors aged 16-25, with secondary audiences of parents/carers and teachers/educators.

The core product is the Peer Mentoring Service, delivered via email and (from 2025) website-based chat, and complemented by the Helpful Advice Hub, an online self-help resource covering mental health, education, relationships, sexuality, life skills, online safety, and careers. The Youth Services Academy requires 10-13 hours of safeguarding-focused training before mentors engage beneficiaries, and a Youth Voice Team of young ambassadors feeds into governance. The technology stack is intentionally lightweight: a website platform (y4y.org.uk) hosted in Microsoft Azure, Microsoft 365 for operations, Teamtailor for recruitment, Verifile for background checks, Microsoft Teams for interviews, and an internal Case Logging System for safeguarding compliance. There is no mobile app, no public API, and no disclosed AI/ML capability.

Youth4Youth runs a donation- and grant-funded business model in which all services are free to beneficiaries. There is no paid tier, no transactional revenue, and no traditional go-to-market motion. Institutional funding has been led by a significant National Lottery grant awarded in April 2023, with additional support from BBC Children in Need and individual donors. The charity operates two subsidiaries, Y4Y Trading Ltd for commercial trading activities supporting sustainability, and Young Southampton for regional operations, but neither subsidiary's revenue is disclosed.

Name

Youth4youth

Legal name

Youth4Youth Ltd

Website

https://y4y.org.uk

Company type

Private

Founded year

2011

Operating status

Operating

Short description

Youth4Youth is a UK-registered charity that provides free peer-to-peer mentoring and online self-help resources to young people aged 10-25 via trained volunteer mentors aged 16-25, funded by donations and grants.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Youth Peer Mentoring and Support Services

NAICS

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

SIC

Services-Social Services (8300), Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Youth Mentoring & Positive Youth Development Nonprofits (BPAGADAD)

akta.pro secondary industries

Student Mentoring & Peer Support Programs (EDAJALAL), Youth Mental Health, Counseling & Wellbeing (Education-Linked) Nonprofits (BPAGADAK)

Keywords

• Peer mentoring services
• Youth mental health support
• Charitable youth services
• Online peer support
• Volunteer mentoring charity

Headquarters

HQ city

London

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Donations: Charitable donations from individual supporters who contribute financially to sustain the peer-mentoring service.
2. Grant Funding: Significant grant funding received from National Lottery (April 2023) enabling rapid growth of services.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Youth4Youth provides a free peer-to-peer mentoring service that connects young people aged 10-25 with trained peer mentors aged 16-25 who offer support via email and website-based chat on mental health, relationships, education, sexuality, bullying, online safety, and life challenges. The service is complemented by a self-help Helpful Advice resource hub and structured early-intervention support before issues escalate to crisis point. All services are provided at no cost to beneficiaries, with operations funded by donations and grants.

Product overview

Youth4Youth is a UK-based charity offering a peer-led support service for young people aged 10-25. The core product is their Peer Mentoring Service, which connects young people with trained peer mentors (aged 16-25) primarily via email, with a chat feature planned for 2025. Complementing the mentoring service is the Helpful Advice Hub—an online resource center providing self-help guides on mental health, relationships, education, careers, and online safety. The organization also runs a Youth Services Academy training program for volunteer mentors and maintains a Youth Voice Team for youth involvement in governance. The portfolio operates as a single unified service rather than a platform-plus-modules architecture, with the peer mentoring and advice resources forming an integrated early-intervention support ecosystem.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Peer Mentoring Service Primary service connecting young people aged 10-25 with peer mentors aged 16-25 who provide support via email and chat. Mentors offer a safe space for young people to discuss mental health, relationships, education, careers, sexuality, bullying, online safety, and other difficulties.
• Helpful Advice Hub

Quantifiable outcome

• Target of 213,450 people reached by 2028
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature2 records

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• TeamtailorcoreTechnology or IntegrationThird-party recruitment site used for recruitment process, hosted through Amazon Web Services. Facilitates candidate tracking and application management.
• AltitudeminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerAward-winning public relations consultancy based in South Yorkshire supporting with press releases and communications.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves9 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Mind: Major UK mental health charity providing information, support and local services across age groups, including dedicated youth-facing content. Comparable in mental health and wellbeing mission but operates at substantially greater scale and broader scope than Youth4Youth.
• Childline (NSPCC): UK-wide helpline and online service for children and young people up to 19, operated by NSPCC. Directly comparable in providing confidential peer-style support for under-18s, but at substantially greater scale and as part of a broader child protection organisation.
• Samaritans: UK-wide emotional support charity providing 24/7 listening services across all ages including young people. Comparable as a free, confidential, volunteer-staffed listening service for those in distress, but at much larger scale and without the under-25 specific specialisation.

Direct peers

• Kooth: Digital mental health platform commissioned by the NHS providing free, anonymous counselling and peer support to young people aged 10-25 across the UK. Directly comparable in age band, free digital chat-based delivery, mental health focus, and school/commissioner referral pathways.
• YoungMinds: UK charity focused on children and young people's mental health, providing advice, resources and a parent helpline. Comparable as a youth-focused mental health and wellbeing support organisation with similar educational content and direct-to-young-people services.
• The Mix: UK charity providing free, confidential support for under-25s via web, phone and peer community channels, including mental health, relationships and wellbeing. Closely comparable in target age band, free digital-first delivery, and multi-channel (chat, email, content) approach aimed at the same 10-25 segment.
• Papyrus (Prevention of Young Suicide): UK charity dedicated to the prevention of young suicide, offering HOPELINEUK and digital resources for under-35s. Comparable as a UK-registered youth support charity offering confidential helpline, digital resources, and education/training services to young people and those around them.

Regional players

• Campaign Against Living Miserably (CALM): UK charity providing a helpline and webchat for people in distress, with significant youth-facing content and campaigns. Comparable as a UK-registered support charity offering free, confidential digital and phone support, including a strong focus on younger demographics at risk.
• BEAT Eating Disorders: UK charity providing helplines, online support groups and information for people affected by eating disorders, with significant youth-focused services. Comparable as a UK-registered support charity using digital channels and volunteer-led support for young people, though narrower in clinical scope.

Others

• Child Bereavement UK: UK charity supporting children, young people and families when a child grieves or a child dies. Comparable as a UK-registered youth support charity offering free helpline, online chat and resources, but with a narrower bereavement focus than Youth4Youth's broad early-intervention remit.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/y4y.org.uk
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/ukyouth4youth

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles10 records

Subsidiaries2 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 Youth4youth