Charlotte Hill, who has been chief executive of UK Youth for the last three years, is to head up Step Up To Serve - a new youth volunteering organisation launched by the Prince of Wales and backed by the Cabinet Office.

Hill will join Step Up to Serve in April. Step Up To Serve was launched by the Prince of Wales in November 2013 and will be funded from a £6m pot from the Cabinet Office. The organisation will advise volunteering providers, funders and advocates, and carry out research, rather than run programmes or make grant. 

Hill joined UK Youth as advocacy and campaigns manager in 2009 and was promoted to chief executive in 2010. Previously she has been a parliamentary adviser for NSPCC and before spent four years working for Harriet Harman MP.

William Nye, chair of Step Up To Serve, said: “Charlotte is well known and respected throughout the youth sector, and is uniquely well-placed to lead a collaborative campaign with youth organisations, businesses, faiths and the education sector to increase volunteering among young people.”

Hill said: “This is such an exciting challenge to take on and I am thrilled to be playing a key role in the campaign.  It is an ambitious target to double the level of participation in youth social action to over 50 per cent by 2020 but the level of support for this campaign is remarkable.”

According to the campaign the current level of youth participation is 29 per cent, and the website has pledges of support from 26 youth and volunteering charities, as well as from the leaders of all three major political parties.