£1 million grant to Depaul UK to secure the future of the London Youth Hub
The Julia Rausing Trust today announces a £1 million grant to Depaul UK, enabling it to purchase the building that houses the London Youth Hub and secure its future. Depaul UK runs the Hub in partnership with New Horizon Youth Centre.
The Trust has a long history of supporting organisations working to tackle homelessness and help people facing disadvantage, with a particular focus on initiatives that provide timely support and help prevent homelessness from becoming entrenched.
The London Youth Hub provides 26 emergency bedspaces for people aged 18 to 24 who are sleeping rough or at imminent risk of doing so. Funded by the Greater London Authority and supported by the Mayor of London, it combines immediate safety with intensive, age-appropriate support and a planned route into longer-term accommodation.
Depaul UK and New Horizon Youth Centre work with each resident to address their immediate needs and develop a plan for securing suitable longer-term accommodation. The Hub aims to help young people move on within 56 days, while also providing tailored support with mental health and wellbeing, education, employment, training and immigration advice.
The Hub began with a 15-month pilot in 2021, and the current 26-bed service, which opened in 2022, has since supported almost 400 young people. Between April 2025 and March 2026, it supported 106 young people, with 96 per cent not recorded as returning to rough sleeping within six months of moving on.
Simon Fourmy, Chief Executive of The Julia Rausing Trust, said: “Preventing homelessness among young people is an important priority for The Julia Rausing Trust. Julia was passionate about helping people facing disadvantage and believed that timely support could help someone move out of crisis and change the course of their life. The London Youth Hub embodies that approach, combining immediate safety with practical, personalised support that helps young people find a route out of homelessness.
“We are delighted to help secure the future of this vital service and hope that many more young people will benefit from its support in the years ahead. As a Trust, we want to see more young people protected from homelessness before it becomes entrenched, so that a period of crisis does not define the rest of their lives.”
1st September 2026