Schools in England to share £22.5m for clubs and activities

More than 400 secondary schools in disadvantaged communities are to share £22.5m to run more clubs, sport and arts activities, the government has announced.

The Enrichment Expansion programme will fund activities during or after the school day, ranging from music groups, engineering clubs and debating societies to football teams, volunteering projects and outdoor learning.

Hundreds of thousands more young people are expected to take part, with the Youth Sport Trust and a team of national partners delivering the programme.

Dedicated Enrichment Co-ordinators will manage clusters of schools to identify gaps in their current offer and connect with local partners, according to the government.

The programme is funded by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) and delivered with the Department for Education (DfE).

It follows the State of the Nation survey of more than 14,000 young people, which found they wanted safe spaces, trusted adults, better mental health support and greater access to enriching activities. Those least likely to take part were also more likely to end up not in education, employment or training (Neet), the survey found.

Ministers have committed to halving the gap in participation between disadvantaged young people and their peers by 2035, under the Youth Matters Strategy launched in December 2025.

Five Enrichment Ambassadors – representing arts and culture, sport and physical activity, nature, outdoors and adventure, civic engagement, and wider life and future skills – will support delivery of the programme.

The programme sits alongside other schemes, including the £132.5m Every Child Can programme and a recently announced expansion of Young Futures Hubs.

Schools Minister Georgia Gould said: “A great education is about more than what happens in the classroom.”

“It’s about the football team, the school play, the debate competition, the volunteering project and the outdoor adventure that help young people discover who they are and what they can achieve,” Gould said.

Minister for Young People Vicky Foxcroft said young people “feel they are missing out on safe, supportive environments where they can connect with others and find a community to belong to.”

On the day of the announcement, Gould attended the Royal Shakespeare Company’s symposium Building Partnerships: A 20-Year Story.