We’re here to prevent children and young people becoming involved in violence.
The Youth Endowment Fund is a UK charity dedicated to youth research and evidence-led action to prevent violence affecting children and young people.
We believe that no child should be affected by violence.
We research youth violence to understand how and why it affects children and young people; we find, fund and test what works to prevent it; and we are building a movement across England and Wales to end it.
FIND OUT WHAT WORKS
Youth Endowment Fund Toolkit
We’ve developed the YEF Toolkit as a free online resource for youth organisations, practitioners and policymakers across England and Wales, helping you put evidence of what works to prevent serious violence into action.
Find out what’s effective 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 across England and Wales 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.
Our Guidance Hub provides evidence-based practice and system guidance reports to protect children from involvement in violence in your sector.
Education
Youth Justice
Children’s Services
Policing
Health
Youth
Neighbourhoods
Our latest youth research reports
Explore independent youth research, evaluation and guidance reports examining what works to prevent violence across England and Wales:
- Report
Report:Children’s services and violence prevention
Violence affects too many children across England and Wales. In our Children, violence and vulnerability report, nearly one in five 13–17-year-olds reported being a victim of violence in the past year, and one in eight reported committing violence. The impact is serious, long-lasting, and extends far beyond those directly involved. Recommendations Extra-Familial Harm 1 LEADERSHIP Make safeguarding children from…Children’s Services - Practice Guidance
Report:Youth work and violence prevention
Violence affects too many children and young people across England and Wales. In our Children, violence and vulnerability report, one in five 13–17-year-olds reported being a victim of violence in the past year, and one in eight reported committing violence. The impact is serious, long-lasting, and extends far beyond those directly involved. Introduction from the…Youth Sector - Report
Report:Children and young people’s accounts of involvement in serious violence in the UK
The first systematic review of UK based qualitative research with CYP involved in or at risk of serious violence. Why did YEF fund this review? At YEF, we understand that to understand what works to prevent children and young people from becoming involved in violence, we need to have a deep understanding of the lives of young people. That’s why we fund…
Funded projects
By evaluating programmes across England and Wales — from mentoring in schools, to therapy in communities, to different types of policing — we find what works to prevent violence. We get behind interventions that are supported by robust research, evaluations and advice.
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 insights, evidence, and Sector updates from YEF
Stay up to date with the latest research, policy insight and evidence on preventing violence affecting children and young people:
- News
News:YEF calls for one pathway, one plan and one owner to protect children at risk of serious violence
Children known to children’s services who are at risk of serious violence or harm outside the home are not getting the support they need. New national guidance from the Youth Endowment Fund (YEF), published today, calls for one safeguarding pathway, one plan and one owner accountable for keeping them safe. While children’s services have clear responsibilities for responding… - Report
Report:Children’s services and violence prevention
Violence affects too many children across England and Wales. In our Children, violence and vulnerability report, nearly one in five 13–17-year-olds reported being a victim of violence in the past year, and one in eight reported committing violence. The impact is serious, long-lasting, and extends far beyond those directly involved. Recommendations Extra-Familial Harm 1 LEADERSHIP Make safeguarding children from…Children’s Services - Blog
Blog:What we’ve learned from the first randomised controlled trials of Trauma-Informed Practice
YEF recently published four evaluations on Trauma-Informed Practice (TIP) – the first robustly-designed randomised controlled trials on TIP and children’s outcomes that we are aware of.
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.