About FAM
FAM stands for Futures and Mentoring. We back young people aged 11 to 25 to build confidence, stay safe and reach their potential.
Where we came from
FAM started life in 2014 as FACE, Family and Community Enterprise: a community organisation in Blackburn using sport, education and events to bring people together. In 2018 we became a registered charity.
The work grew because young people kept coming back. Over the years we ran holiday clubs that filled every place, sport for young people with disabilities, girls-only sessions, evening outreach on the streets and in the parks, and appeals that young people planned and led themselves.
If ten years taught us one thing, it's that young people do best when they have somewhere to go, something to do and someone in their corner. So in 2026 we sharpened our focus and became FAM, Futures and Mentoring. We work with young people from high school age, through college and training, and into the first years of adult life, in school and out of it, and we build everything around their next step.
How we got here
2014. FACE starts in Blackburn, using sport, education and community events to reach people who often get missed.
2018. We become a registered charity, number 1179629.
2020 to 2021. The pandemic moves our sessions online, and we turn our attention to mental health and wellbeing.
2021 to 2022. Back in person, more than 2,000 people take part in our sport and activities. We run holiday clubs at Easter, in the summer and at Christmas, our ThisAbility programme offers sport for young people with disabilities, and our outreach teams work in Little Harwood, Whitebirk and Daisyfield.
2022 to 2023. New boxing and mixed martial arts sessions reach more than 300 people. Our YouthLab girls support a local women's refuge, and young people help raise more than £20,000 after the Turkey earthquake.
2023 to 2024. More than 100 young people join our employability programme. We start work on antisocial behaviour with shopkeepers and councillors, and join Blackburn with Darwen's Young People's Foundation. Our youth teams lead an appeal for families hit by the Morocco earthquake.
2024 to 2025. FACE and MOTIVATE gets inactive young people moving again, and our girls-only sessions run with a professional football club community trust.
2026. We become FAM, Futures and Mentoring, with specialist support for young people new to the UK and a way of working built to grow beyond Blackburn.
What we believe
- Every young person deserves someone in their corner
- Support should be free, local and easy to walk into
- Young people should shape what we run, not just use it
- No young person is too far behind to take a next step
- We say what we can do, and we're honest about what we can't
- Safeguarding comes first, every time
How we are run
FAM, Futures and Mentoring, is the working name of FACE, Family and Community Enterprise, a charitable incorporated organisation registered in England and Wales, number 1179629, since 21 August 2018.
We are governed by a board of volunteer trustees, and we report and file our accounts as a registered charity must. We have a named safeguarding lead and a full set of up-to-date policies, from safeguarding and data protection to equality, inclusion and financial controls.
Our head office is at Central Buildings, Richmond Terrace, Blackburn, BB1 7AP, and we run outreach from sites in Haslingden and Bolton. Blackburn is where we started and where our model is proven, and we're building it so that other towns can benefit too.
Open to read
How we work, in the open
Come and see for yourself
Funders, partners and families are always welcome to visit a session. We'd rather show you what we do than tell you.