AMBITIOUS TOGETHER FOUNDATION.
About ATF.
OUR MISSION IS SIMPLE:
TO ENSURE EVERY YOUNG PERSON HAS SOMEONE STEADY IN THEIR corner.
Building the UK’s national infrastructure for mentoring:
Ambitious Together Foundation (ATF) is building something the
UK currently lacks: a consistent, trusted, national mentoring
infrastructure for young adults who have faced disadvantage.
Over the next five years, ATF aims to support 15,000 young people aged 16–30, ensuring that those who have experienced care, family estrangement, bereavement or significant disruption are not left to navigate adulthood alone.
This is not a short-term intervention or a localised programme. ATF is a long-term, national ambition – designed to sit alongside education, employment and health as part of the UK’s shared social infrastructure.
We believe mentoring should not depend on postcode, personal
networks or chance encounters. It should be reliable, high quality
and available at the moments it matters most.
ATF exists to unlock potential that too often goes unrealised – and to shape futures through connection, guidance and opportunity.
ATF APPROACH.
Our model is defined by:
- Intergenerational mentoring - connecting young adults with professionals, leaders and role models
- Values-driven, bias-aware matching - aligning mentors and mentees based on background, expertise, career interests and individual needs
- Long-term relationships - offering guidance and stability at critical moments
- Partnership-powered delivery - working with businesses, education providers and civic leaders
FRANCHISE-STYLE CONSISTENCY
Every hub e.g. FE/HE, delivers the same ‘gold standard’ experience with shared standards, contact schedule, and safeguarding.
INTERGENERATIONAL MENTORING
Diverse pool of mentees, graduates, professionals and retirees. This creates representation, networks and role models.
AI-POWERED MATCHING AND MONITORING
Secure platform combining deep profiling, matching, wellness checks, dashboards and safeguarding workflows.
PARTNERSHIP-POWERED REACH
Corporates, colleges, universities, civic leaders and communities
THE CRISIS FACING YOUNG PEOPLE.
Across the UK, young adults
are entering independence
in increasingly unstable
circumstances.
1 in 3 care leavers become homeless within 2 years of leaving care
Nearly 1 million young people (16-24) are NEET, the highest in a decade
Up to 27% of the adult prison population have experienced care
Mental-health referrals +50% since 2019; loneliness now a top 3 youth issue.
Early hardship – including care experience, family estrangement, bereavement or serious illness – often leave young people without the guidance, networks or financial
safety nets many of us rely on during key transitions.
Each year:
- Around 10,000 young people leave the care system
- Thousands more lose family support at a critical stage of life
- Many face barriers to education, employment, housing and wellbeing
Too many young people are defined by circumstance, not by their potential. The cost is personal, social and economic – and without intervention, cycles of disadvantage persist.
THIS IS RYAN.
BY AGE 17, RYAN HAD BEEN THROUGH...
Research from What Works for Children’s Social Care shows that children who need a social worker from Year 5 onwards achieve, on average, twenty fewer GCSE grades across eight subjects.
At ATF, we know these impacts do not fade with time. Evidence shows they continue into adulthood, affecting outcomes well into people’s late twenties. Young people who grow up in the most disadvantaged circumstances remain significantly less likely to access secure, sustained employment than their peers.
WHY NOW?
YOUNG PEOPLE ARE ENTERING ADULTHOOD AT A TIME OF UNPRECEDENTED INSTABILITY.
Economic pressure, insecure work and mental-health challenges are trapping young people in cycles of disadvantage.
1.2 million young people are now in contact with mental- health services – a record high.
Social isolation and loss of belonging have become defining features of growing up.
Support for vulnerable young people too often ends just as adulthood begins.
Formal systems typically taper off at 18 or 21, yet the challenges of adulthood – employment, finances, housing and mental health – intensify well beyond this point. Mentoring provision is fragmented, inconsistent and heavily dependent on location or luck.
At the same time, the pressures facing young people are growing: rising living costs, widening inequality and increasing mental health need.
The case for change is clear. What’s needed is not another short-term programme, but lasting infrastructure that connects generations and creates opportunity at scale.
BUT ONE TRUSTED RELATIONSHIP CAN CHANGE EVERYTHING
VISION TO ACTION.
National Ambition & Greater Birmingham Pilot
ATF is translating ambition into action by building a national mentoring system that is designed to grow, adapt and endure.
Our journey begins with an 18-month pilot in Birmingham, bringing together 100 mentors and 100 young adults to test, refine and evidence the ATF model.
This pilot will:
- Deliver high-quality, structured mentoring
- Be independently evaluated for impact and value
- Establish the foundations for national scale
From this starting point, ATF will grow into a £50 million, five-year programme supporting 15,000 young people across England and Wales.
AIM
100 mentors
100 mentees
DURATION
18 Months
FUNDING TARGET
£565,000
TIMELINE.
2026-27
Foundation Building and Pilot Delivery
2027-28
Independent Evaluations and Expansion Readiness
2028-29
Scaling across multiple regions
2029-30
Systems Strengthening and National Infrastructure Development
2030-31
Full National Impact
ATF CLEAR ASKS.
ATF is calling on businesses, philanthropists and partners to support this ambition in three clear ways.
- Financial investment
- In-kind and resource support
- Networks and advocacy
Your involvement can help turn ambition into action – creating a legacy of opportunity that lasts for generations.
FINANCIAL INVESTMENT
- Financial commitments from Corporates, philanthropists and foundations
- Sponsorship of specific cohorts and/or AI-powered technology development
- Funding towards the Birmingham pilot (£565,000 target)
IN-KIND AND RESOURCES SUPPORT
- Mentor pipelines: access to employees and professionals
- Venues: Free or subsidised space for training, mentoring sessions, immersive onsite experiences, and ATF focused events to spotlight our work, strengthen partnerships and grow our network
NETWORKS AND ADVOCACY
- Referrals and introductions to new funders
- Public endorsements to build visibility, credibility and trust.
NEXT STEPS...
Becoming an ATF mentor means being part of a diverse, values-led community committed to creating real change.
Our mentors come from a wide range of professional and lived-experience backgrounds and are carefully trained, supported and matched using safeguarding-first, bias-aware technology.
Use your time, skills and experience to stand alongside a young person when it matters most.
Lasting change happens when organisations work together.
By partnering with ATF, you can help strengthen our mentoring programme through funding, expertise, opportunities or advocacy.
Together, we can remove barriers, expand access to support and improve outcomes for young people facing disadvantage.
If you’re aged 16–30 and facing life without consistent support, ATF can help.
We match young adults with mentors who listen, guide and stand alongside you as you work towards your goals.
Find out how mentoring could support you.
Mentor.
ATF aims to build a high-quality, diverse and representative mentor community.
- Graduates and postgraduates
- Professionals e.g. across law, finance, tech, health, creative industries
- Community leaders and trained volunteers
- Retirees and senior professionals bringing experience and networks.
- Lived experience mentors
- DBS Check
- ATF Applied Skills training
- AI-driven profiling for best-match accuracy
- Commitment to ATF’s values and safeguarding standards
MENTEES.
- Care-experienced and care-adjacent young adults
- Young carers
- Young people affected by bereavement, parental loss, trauma or family breakdown
- Young adults who are NEET or at risk of becoming NEET
- Young people with limited confidence or trusted adult relationships
- Young people experiencing socio-economic hardship or systemic disadvantage
- Trauma-informed, welcoming onboarding
- A safeguarding-first approach
- Clear goal, expectations and support
- Mentor matching powered by values-aligned, bias-aware AI
MENTOR RECRUITMENT FLOW.
Targeted Outreach / EOI Form
Screening and Safeguarding Check
Training and Orientation
AI Matching (Values-driven and Bias-Aware)
Human Oversight and Match Approval
Relationship launch
Check-ins and Support
MENTEE RECRUITMENT FLOW.
Referral / EOI
Initial Filter and Triage
Needs Assessment and Safeguarding Review
Training
AI Matching (Values-driven and Bias-Aware)
Human Oversight and Match Approval
Relationship launch
Monitoring, Check-ins and Support
Contact Us .
hello@ambitioustogether.org.uk
Every young person deserves someone in their corner
Account Name : Ambitious Together Foundation
Sort Code : 23-05-80
Account No : 53500676
