We’re here to prevent children and young people becoming involved in violence.
We’re here to prevent children and young people becoming involved in violence.
We do this by finding out what works and building a movement to put this knowledge into practice.
FIND OUT WHAT WORKS
Youth Endowment Fund Toolkit
We’ve developed the YEF Toolkit as a free online resource to help you put evidence of what works to prevent serious violence into action.
Find out what works for your area of work, and how we can collaboratively help make a positive change to the lives of young people at risk of violence.
Sectors
To help us make the biggest difference over the ten years of our endowment, we’ve selected seven sectors where we’ll use evidence to identify what works and what needs to change, so that children are better supported and violence reduces.
For each sector we’ll produce practice and systems guidance, alongside online and in-person events to join.
Education
Youth Justice
Children’s Services
Policing
Health
Youth
Neighbourhoods
Our latest research reports
Find out what works through evaluation and guidance reports
- Research
Report:Access to Mental Health Support
About the Report This report examines how children and young people involved in, or at risk of, serious youth violence in England and Wales access mental health support — and how that access can be improved. It draws on five strands of research: literature reviews, data analysis, service mapping, and over 100 in-depth interviews with…Health - Report
Report:Evidence Review on Poverty and Youth Crime and Violence
Understanding the relationship between poverty and crime and violence The link between poverty and children’s involvement in crime and violence is well established. But the details of this relationship are complex and not fully understood. To explore these complexities, the Youth Endowment Fund commissioned a systematic review by the Jill Dando Institute Research Laboratory at… - Statistics briefing
Report:Beyond the Headlines 2025
About the report Every year, thousands of children are affected by violence. But is the situation improving – or getting worse? And how well are the systems that support children responding? To help answer these questions, we have created a core indicators dashboard, tracking 11 key measures. It’s designed to cut through complexity and offer…
Funded projects
We fund work in England and Wales that aims to prevent children and young people from becoming involved in violence – especially those aged between 10 and 14-years old.
Every programme and activity we fund, we’ll evaluate. We do this because we want to learn what works, for whom and why.
Funding good work
We fund work in England and Wales that aims to prevent children and young people from becoming involved in violence.
Finding what works
We evaluate every programme and activity that we fund. Our aim is to find out what works, for whom and why.
Working for change
To make a lasting difference we’ll build a movement of people and organisations passionate about making sure that young people get the very best support possible.
Youth Advisory Board
We’re giving young people a stake in our decision making and a voice on the issues that matter to them.
We can only achieve by putting young people at the heart of our work. That’s why we’ve set-up a Youth Advisory Board.
Latest from YEF
What’s new at YEF
- Research
Report:Access to Mental Health Support
About the Report This report examines how children and young people involved in, or at risk of, serious youth violence in England and Wales access mental health support — and how that access can be improved. It draws on five strands of research: literature reviews, data analysis, service mapping, and over 100 in-depth interviews with…Health - Blog
Blog:Tackling Inconsistency in Diversion: New Evidence, New Guidance, and a National Movement for Change
We know that when it’s done well, diverting children away from the criminal justice system can work. It can reduce reoffending, lower the risk of future harm, and give children a better chance to thrive. But right now, too many children don’t get the right support at the right time. We’ve just published two new… - Blog
Blog:Fewer children hospitalised by knife attacks: what the new data shows
You don’t need to look far to see the devastating impact knife crime has on children, families and communities. One of the government’s key missions is to halve knife crime by 2034. This is clearly an urgent priority, but there’s a long way to go in making it reality. At the Youth Endowment Fund, we…
Newsletter
Sign up to receive the latest YEF news, opportunities and research.
Be the first to hear about:
- New Toolkit strands
- New guidance reports
- New funding rounds
- New research: one of the largest studies of children’s experiences of violence.