Area Leaders Programme (ALP)
Preventing violence affecting children and young people, through local partnerships
About the programme
The Area Leaders Programme (ALP) is designed to help local areas build stronger, more effective partnerships to prevent children and young people from becoming involved in violence.
By bringing together multi-agency partners, the programme supports local leaders to develop or strengthen evidence-based strategies that tackle the root causes of serious youth violence.
Who is involved?
The Area Leaders Programme works across the Youth Endowment Fund’s seven key sectors:
This includes partners from both the statutory and voluntary sectors, ensuring that every part of the system plays a role in keeping children safe.
Our approach: Five key themes
The Area Leaders programme is structured around five areas where local partnerships can make the biggest difference:
- Partnerships: Building strong, accountable partnerships with clear roles, governance, and measurable goals.
- Profile: Developing a deep understanding of the local drivers, context, and patterns of serious violence.
- People: Identifying the children and young people most at risk and ensure they get the right support at the right time.
- Places: Pinpointing high-risk locations in communities and taking action to make them safer.
- Practice: Sharing, applying and embedding best practice consistently across all agencies and organisations.
Why the Area Leaders Programme matters
Preventing violence isn’t the responsibility of one agency alone. The ALP helps leaders to:
- Work better together across sectors
- Use data and evidence to shape effective local strategies
- Focus resources where they’re needed most
- Create safer environments for children and young people
By joining the Area Leaders Programme, local partnerships can build sustainable approaches to reducing youth violence and improving community safety.