About YAT

YAT is an independent charity. It was conceived in January 2006 to give recognition to those young people seeking adulthood, and ultimately aims to become a nationally recognised scheme for all young people across Britain who want to achieve the same formal recognition.

It was created by the British youth sector in a response to a challenge set by David Cameron to bring together existing personal development youth work to support transition to adulthood.

YAT is now in a proof of concept period. Young people are going on a journey and so is YAT. We are at exploration (research), experimentation (programme) and collaboration phase. We are working with the sector to test our programme elements through our pilots (link to the programme) and starting some qualitative research analysing what is adulthood (link to research).

The Pears Foundation is a founding partner and major contributor of start up and core costs of the Young Adult Trust. This is one of a number of the Foundation's investments as part of our overall contribution to a more cohesive British society. For further information on The Pears Foundation see www.pearsfoundation.org.uk.

YAT’s Chief Executive Paul Oginsky

If you behave like an adult you will be acknowledged as an adult. Paul Oginsky, Chief Executive, YAT

Paul Co-founded the ‘Weston Spirit’ organisation back in 1987 and remains Vice-President. Weston Spirit now has 12 bases and has supported over 75,000 young people. It is widely recognised as an effective and forward thinking organisation. After leaving Weston Spirit Paul established a company called ’The Personal Development Point’ which supports many organisations that seek to foster self-esteem, confidence, and positive social interaction. He was appointed Chief Executive of YAT in October 2006. Paul believes YAT has enormous potential to improve the lives of millions of young people in Britain today.