What do you picture when you hear the word ‘extremism’? Clear ideologies, organised groups, anti-democratic chants? Perhaps it’s something similar to the upsetting sight I witnessed in Hyde Park recently: Nazi swastikas, and the words ‘Britishness is Whiteness’, proudly displayed on protest placards.  Long-standing forms of extremism clearly persist and must remain a central focus of national security. But a report by the Home Affairs Committee, published last month, paints a more varied picture. It…

Children who identify as being in gangs are 62 times more likely to be seriously injured and need hospital treatment than their peers. For James*, that risk wasn’t a statistic — it was his daily reality. James was criminally exploited for six years. He describes that period as living in constant uncertainty — afraid of…

At the Peer Action Collective we have learned a lot about the impact that youth violence can have on young people’s health and wellbeing. Research conducted in 2022 by Peer Researchers found that mental health was a priority for young people across England and Wales. From being hypervigilant in areas where young people feel unsafe,…

One teenager punches and kicks another until the victim curls up in the foetal position on the ground. A boy sexually assaults a girl, while his friends cheer him on from the sidelines.

Following our Youth Advisory Board (YAB) visit to No.10 Downing Street, Callum one of our YAB members wrote the following account. On the 20th October 2023 members of the YEF Youth Advisory Board, including myself, visited 10 Downing Street and met with Civil Servants working as part of the Policy Unit, which provides policy advise…