About us
You can’t make a great decision without young people.
We build technology with young people and communities, so the decisions that shape their lives are made with them, not about them.
Who we are
Young Futures Digital is a London social impact software company. We design and build technology with young people, communities and the organisations responsible for them: councils, charities, schools and public services.
Our work ranges from a community safety data interface in a live pilot with a local authority to interactive online harms workshops in schools and pupil referral units. Everything starts with a social challenge, not a technology brief.
We specialise in working with young people and communities who are usually left out of the research, data and decisions that shape their lives. We work best with organisations that genuinely care and want to make a real difference.
Our vision and mission
Our vision
A world where young people and the communities around them are safe, have real opportunities and help shape the technology and services that affect their lives.
Our mission
To build social impact software with young people and the organisations responsible for them. We help councils, charities and public services tackle complex social challenges, and create paid training and work for young people along the way.
Why we exist
Our founder spent years building software and running digital work for organisations of every kind, and kept seeing the same pattern in public and community services. Technology arrived after the decisions had been made. The people it affected were consulted, if at all, once the important choices were fixed. The result was tools that were technically fine and practically unused.
Young Futures Digital was set up to work the other way round. We start with a social challenge, involve the people affected early, pay them for substantial contribution and build only what turns out to be useful. Our work covers safety online, in the streets and across local services, access to opportunity and the community insight that helps services respond earlier.
How community benefit shapes decisions
We decline work that does not lead with a social problem, intended outcome or audience need. We publish the status and limitations of what we build rather than inflating it. We write safeguards into contracts, not just into policies. And we return findings to the communities that contributed them.
Every claim we make, on this site or in a proposal, is one we can back up.
Young people, paid experience and progression
Young people shape what we build, are paid for their time and build real skills along the way. Projects can include a ring-fenced youth opportunity budget for paid participation, training, mentoring and practical project experience.
In practice this means paid co-design roles on live projects, training for local practitioners and community organisations, and routes from participation into placements and entry-level digital work.
How we stay independent
We are a company, not a charity, and we are open about that because funders and partners need to know. Earning our way means we can stay with communities for the long term rather than grant to grant, keep software running after a project ends and pay young people properly instead of asking them to volunteer. Community benefit, not income, decides what we take on.
Where a programme is open only to charities or community groups, we work alongside a community organisation that leads the project. We take part as its technical and delivery partner, with our role and costs set out in writing.
Accountability
Named leads for safeguarding and data protection are confirmed in writing to every partner at the start of an engagement, along with their responsibilities. Commissioners who want to know who would shape and build their work can talk to us and meet them.
Legal status
Young Futures Digital Limited is registered in England and Wales. Registered office: 124-128 City Road, London EC1V 2NX, United Kingdom. Company number, VAT status and insurance details are provided during supplier onboarding and on request. See procurement and trust and company details.
What “built with” means here
People decide whether to take part. We explain what they can influence, how their contribution will be used and what changed as a result.
When a young person changes a design decision, that change is recorded, credited and paid for. That record becomes part of the evidence for every project.
Want to meet the people who would do the work?
Tell us what is happening, who it affects and what needs to change. You will speak with the people who would shape and build the response, not a sales team.
We reply within three working days.