YHP UK
Use a maximum of two downloads here
Location
Greater Manchester and Cambridgeshire
Timing
2026 – 2028
The local context
In 2025, the UN General Assembly met and set a new vision for the prevention and control of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) - including cardiovascular disease, cancer, chronic respiratory disease and diabetes - towards 2030 and beyond through a new Political Declaration.1
The purpose of this declaration is to transform lives and livelihoods through leadership and action on non-communicable diseases and the promotion of mental health and well-being.2
Research from the UK-based Association of Young People’s Health found that risk-taking behaviours that can lead to NCDs in later life begin during adolescence, with the first signs of many serious long-term conditions also emerging at this time.3
Our focus
The first phase of the UK Young Health Programme – which ran from 2020 through 2025 - has been empowering young people to manage their own mental health and emotional wellbeing to reduce the risk factors that can lead to NCDs in later life.
The second phase of the UK Young Health Programme – which will run through 2028 – will focus on young people in poverty, to help them gain better access to healthy food and provide them with a healthy living toolkit and advocacy resources.
It is hoped that more than 50,000 young people and families with children will be supported throughout the three years of the programme.
Our programme
The programme will focus on four main areas:
1. Healthy Living Fund
The Healthy Living Fund will be open to children and young people supported by Barnardo’s. The young people will be able to apply for vouchers that can be used for groceries, goods, small appliances or other cooking equipment. The funding will enable them to take control of their own diet and increase their access to healthy food options and their capacity to cook healthy meals and lead a healthy lifestyle.
2. Healthy Living Toolkit
A Healthy Living and Advocacy toolkit, built by and aimed at children and young people will be created. Barnardo’s will identify and build a dedicated group of 12 young people with lived experience of poverty who will take part in workshops – sharing their experiences of struggling to afford food, healthy diets, and taking part in advocacy training.
The group will then create a toolkit which may include easy-to-cook nutritious recipes reflecting different cultural diets and practical guidance. In addition, this group will identify a health policy issue of importance to them to pursue and drive change for young people in the UK. AstraZeneca colleagues will work with this group along with Barnardo’s healthcare professionals to review and evaluate materials.
3. Active Science with Barnardo’s Family Hub
We are partnering with Barnardo’s family hub teams to strategically extend the reach and impact of the AstraZeneca Active Science programme across communities served by the hubs. Our goal is to introduce high-quality after-school clubs for secondary-age students in the surrounding areas, using a pilot to co-design and refine the model with the hubs. Together, we will create compelling, curriculum-focussed sessions that blend science and sport to spark curiosity, build confidence, and develop transferable life skills—equipping young people for future education, employment, and wellbeing. The pilot will test delivery approaches, measure engagement and outcomes, and establish a scalable blueprint for wider rollout across the network.
4. Connecting with our communities
Throughout the programme, awareness will be raised both internally and externally through social media and other key channels, connecting AstraZeneca employees, Barnardo’s teams and local communities across the UK.
Our aim
Over the three-year programme, we aim to:
· Provide access to at least 850 young people in poverty to the Healthy Living Fund.
· Provide access to more than 50,000 young people and families with children to the Healthy Living Toolkit.
· Provide advocacy opportunities for young people experiencing poverty and health inequality by finding a health policy or issue they feel passionate about to advocate for change.
Our partner
YHP UK is delivered in partnership with Barnardo’s. At Barnardo’s, their purpose is to change childhoods and change lives. They have been helping children, young people, and families to be safer, happier, healthier, and more hopeful for over 150 years.
Last year, the charity provided essential support to over 350,000 children, parents and carers through more than 650 services and partnerships across the UK.
