In our launch grant round we awarded a total of £18.1m to 24 projects, working with 36,000 children across England and Wales.
We are dedicated to finding the most effective ways to support children and young people at risk of becoming involved in violence. We’ll evaluate each project we fund to find out what works, for whom and why.
The first grantees include organisations adapting well established programmes with good evidence from other parts of the world, as well as newer community projects testing more innovative approaches.
The following 24 organisations have been awarded funding as part of our launch grant round.
Partners: St Mary’s University, Twickenham, Middlesex and Cambridge Education (on behalf of the London Borough of Barnet)
Name and aim of programme: Transition hub for children new to and on the edge of care. The transition hub will offer personalised support for a young person, their carer and their school when they first enter care or experience a change in school and/or foster care placement. In providing a safe space and tailored programme, the Transition Hub aims to support greater stability in school and care placements.
Locations being delivered in: Barnet Local Authority and Achieving for Children (Kingston, Richmond and Maidenhead Local Authorities)
Type of evaluation: Feasibility Study; Pilot Study
Evaluator: to be confirmed
Funding: £975,000
Partners: Hyndburn Borough Council, Burnley Borough Council, Pendle Borough Council, Rossendale Borough Council, Lancashire County Council, Lancashire Constabulary, Lancashire Probation Service, Blackburn & Darwen District Without Abuse Ltd, Change Grow Live
Name and aim of programme: Pause 4 Thought
Informed by principles from cognitive behavioural therapy, this project aims to address early stage criminality by teaching young people to recognise warning signs which could lead to harm and how to respond effectively to stay out of trouble.
Locations being delivered in: Blackburn with Darwen, Burnley, Hyndburn, Pendle and Rossendale
Type of evaluation: Feasibility Study; Pilot Study
Evaluator: Dartington Service Design Lab and University of Plymouth
Funding: £434,000
Partners: n/a
Name and aim of programme: LNK Educate
LNK will deliver training and provide a toolkit of resources about crime and violence prevention to teachers and support staff in schools with the highest rates of pupil exclusion to encourage a “whole school approach” to crime and violence reduction, with mentoring provided to those identified as highest risk.
Locations being delivered in: Croydon
Type of evaluation: Feasibility Study; Pilot Study
Evaluator: NatCen Social Research
Funding: £1,010,000
Partners: Lambeth Metropolitan Police Service and Juvenis
Name and aim of programme: Divert Youth
This project works with young people when they enter police custody, utilising that ‘teachable moment’ to engage them in a 12-week programme of strengths-based support alongside full health assessment and providing parenting support.
Locations being delivered in: London Borough of Lambeth/ Southwark
Type of evaluation: Feasibility Study; Pilot Study
Evaluator: Manchester Metropolitan University
Funding: £897,863
Partners: London Borough of Barnet
Name and aim of programme: Protective sibling mentoring and connecting service
The project aims to engage those with a sibling known to the youth justice system, mentoring them to identify goals and connecting them to other services following the programme, whilst the London Borough of Barnet provides comprehensive support to their family.
Locations being delivered in: London Borough of Barnet
Type of evaluation: Feasibility Study; Pilot Study
Evaluator: Manchester Metropolitan University
Funding: £402,605
Partners: n/a
Name and aim of programme: Reducing risk factors associated with crime for Year 6-7 children
The programme supports young people with impulsive or disruptive behaviour, at the key transition phase of primary to secondary school, through providing skills-based therapeutic support to enable participants to manage their behaviour and provides families with strategies to support and sustain change.
Locations being delivered in: London boroughs of Haringey, Islington and Camden
Type of evaluation: Feasibility Study; Pilot Study
Evaluator: to be confirmed
Funding: £920,156
Partners: n/a
Name and aim of programme: The Guiding Young Minds (GYM) Programme
GYM addresses the issues of vulnerable young people displaying risky behaviours, through focussed youth work and Trauma Focussed Cognitive Behaviour Therapy, helping to include parents and carers wherever possible before progressing to specialist youth support and mentoring to focus on redirecting their lives.
Locations being delivered in: Northamptonshire and Warwickshire
Type of evaluation: Pilot Study
Evaluator: University of Hertfordshire
Funding: £636,548
Partners: n/a
Name and aim of programme: The Brandon Centre Systemic Integrative Treatment (BC-SIT)
The project aims to prevent young people with behavioural problems from entering out-of-home care by providing intensive therapeutic support to young people and engaging their families and engaging key influencers such as teachers and community members who can champion the young person to sustain positive change.
Locations being delivered in: London boroughs of Enfield, Haringey, Camden and Islington
Type of evaluation: Pilot Study
Evaluator: University of Hertfordshire
Funding: £563,819
Partners: London Borough of Redbridge, Functional Family Therapy LLC (based in Seattle USA)
Name and aim of programme: Functional Family Therapy for young people at risk of gang Involvement and exploitation (FFT-G)
The project will work to improve life at home for those at risk of gang involvement by providing a Functional Family Therapy Worker to work with the family to reduce conflict, build positive relationships and provide a safe environment for the young person.
Locations being delivered in: London Borough of Redbridge
Type of evaluation: Feasibility Study; Pilot Study
Evaluator: To be confirmed
Funding: £781,055
Partners: n/a
Name and aim of programme: Transition and Resilience Project
The Transition and Resilience Project provides intensive wrap-around support, including counselling, mentoring and digital support, which builds functional skills, increases resilience and improves wellbeing, with the intention of reducing school exclusions which can be a contributory factor in young people becoming involved in criminal activity.
Locations being delivered in: London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham
Type of evaluation: Feasibility Study; Pilot Study
Evaluator: University of Hertfordshire
Funding: £504,487
Partners: n/a
Name and aim of programme: Child to Parent Violence (CPV)
The project helps young people displaying violence towards their parents to reduce harmful and destructive behaviours in the home environment and community by teaching the parents non-violent resistance techniques and engaging the young person in one-to-one sessions adapted to meet their needs and issues, drawing on cognitive behavioural techniques.
Locations being delivered in: London Borough of Bromley, London Borough of Croydon
Type of evaluation: Feasibility Study; Pilot Study
Evaluator: University of Hertfordshire
Funding: £564,308
Partners: Birmingham Children’s Trust Community Interest Company and Forward Thinking Birmingham, Kirklees Council, Nottingham City Council and Sandwell Children’s Trust.
Name and aim of programme: Multisystemic Therapy – Exploitation (MST-E)
MST aims to keep children safely at home, to reduce offending, improve family relationships and ensure school attendance through intensive systemic family therapy, support and behavioural interventions tailored to each family’s needs and strengths.
Locations being delivered in: Birmingham City Council, Kirklees Council, Nottingham City Council and Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council
Type of evaluation: Feasibility Study; Pilot Study
Evaluator: to be confirmed
Funding: £2,980,383
Partners: Change Foundation and Prince’s Trust
Name and aim of programme: Simulation-based Holistic Approach for Reducing and Preventing knife violence (SHARP)
The project aims to increase knowledge and understanding on knife crime and its consequences by vividly recreating the journey of knife crime victims. Using real-life inspired simulations featuring professional actors, young people will take part in interactive role-plays recreating the different stages of a knife crime taking place. They will see how victims are treated on the scene by paramedics, join surgeons in the operating theatre and follow post-surgery rehabilitation.
Locations being delivered in: Hammersmith and Fulham, Kensington and Chelsea and Westminster
Type of evaluation: Pilot Study
Evaluator: Ipsos Mori
Funding: £901,744
Partners: n/a
Name and aim of programme: Advanced Lifeskills
Delivered in the classroom with training and delivery support provided by Barnardo’s, Advanced LifeSkills aims to develop young people’s attitudes to healthy decision-making through themed activities which improve their social and emotional skills and help them to learn about decision-making, risk and consequences.
Locations being delivered in: Leicestershire
Type of evaluation: Pilot Study
Evaluator: Sheffield Hallam University
Funding: £486,165
Partners: Nottinghamshire Police
Name and aim of programme: DARE 25
DARE 25 works with younger children to teach them about the dangers of knife and hate crime and about making informed choices about substances, through teaching key social and cognitive skills to reduce engagement in risky behaviours, based around the Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE) decision making model.
Locations being delivered in: Nottinghamshire; Sheffield; Rotherham; Doncaster; Chesterfield and Derby
Type of evaluation: Feasibility Study; Pilot Study
Evaluator: Sheffield Hallam University
Funding: £647,102
Partners: Park Campus Academy Pupil Referral Unit, London Nautical School, Saint Gabriel’s College, Black Thrive, Colourful Minds, Youth Guidance
Name and aim of programme: Becoming a Man (BAM)
BAM will develop social-emotional skills and encourage positive anger expression through a trauma-informed counselling project integrating clinical theory and practice, men’s rites of passage work and a dynamic approach to youth engagement. Delivery of BAM in the UK is subject to a licensing approval process that is currently taking place.
Locations being delivered in: 80% of participants live in Lambeth, the rest are from Bromley, Lewisham, Southwark and Islington
Type of evaluation: Feasibility Study; Pilot Study
Evaluator: Dartington Service Design Lab and University of Plymouth
Funding: £1,083,271
Partners: n/a
Name and aim of programme: Nurturing Empathy Before Transition
The programme aims to reduce aggression in school children and increase social and emotional competence and empathy by coaching pupils to connect with a baby and their parent who visits throughout the school year, reinforced by additional themed lessons with a trained instructor.
Locations being delivered in: Doncaster; Northamptonshire; Birmingham City Council; Lambeth; Lewisham; Hackney; Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea and Southwark
Type of evaluation: Feasibility Study; Pilot Study
Evaluator: Sheffield Hallam University
Funding: £345,700
Partners: Wellbeing Challenge CIC
Name and aim of programme: Thurston Family Resilience Project
The project will combine direct teaching of skills with residential experiences and outdoor and community activities to provide the young person and their family with the skills and tools necessary for them to engage with their community and peers positively.
Locations being delivered in: South Tyneside
Type of evaluation: Feasibility Study; Pilot Study
Evaluator: IPSOS MORI
Funding: £324,570
Partners: Lime Social Marketing, Media & Communications ltd, Emerge Leadership UK
Name and aim of programme: The Confident Resilient Children Project
The project is aimed at enabling students to respond to challenging situations through a classroom programme using digital interactive stories, with targeted mentoring support to help higher risk pupils build further resilience.
Locations being delivered in: Birmingham
Type of evaluation: Feasibility Study; Pilot Study
Evaluator: NatCen Social Research
Funding: £501,349
Partners: Boys and Girls Clubs of Greater Manchester; Boys and Girls Clubs of South Yorkshire; Boys’ and Girls Clubs of Wales; Lancashire Association of Boys and Girls Clubs and Young Bristol
Name and aim of programme: The Respect Project
The project is an alternative education programme utilising outdoor activities, life-skills sessions and a residential experience to help young people re-engage with their education, reducing the risk of school exclusion, In building resilience and making informed choices.
Locations being delivered in: Barnsley BC; Bath and North East Somerset Council; Blackburn with Darwen BC; Blackpool Council; Bolton BC; Bristol City C; Bury BC; Doncaster BC; Lancashire CC; Manchester City C; Oldham BC; Rotherham BC; Sheffield City C; Vale of Glamorgan
Type of evaluation: Feasibility Study; Pilot Study
Evaluator: IPSOS MORI
Funding: £518,010
Partners: n/a
Name and aim of programme: SW!TCH Lives
The project aims to promote positive actions and emotions and reduce risky behaviour among at-risk young people, by providing consistent, positive role models through weekly mentoring and access to supportive peer networks via community activities.
Locations being delivered in: London boroughs of Barking and Dagenham, Havering, Redbridge and Thurrock
Type of evaluation: Feasibility Study; Pilot Study
Evaluator: NatCen Social Research
Funding: £502,676
Partners: n/a
Name and aim of programme: Branching Out
Branching Out multi-phase activity programme aims to empower young people by providing resilience building strategies and skills to enable them to make informed choices around risk. The programme will use street-based outreach and a school programme to build relationships, mentoring and offer a multi-activity week culminating in youth-led social action projects.
Locations being delivered in: Wakefield, West Yorkshire
Type of evaluation: Feasibility Study; Pilot Study
Evaluator: Sheffield Hallam University
Funding: £656,244
Partners: NAOS CIC
Name and aim of programme: Creating New Futures Through Boxing
A programme combining non-contact boxing with intensive personal support to create healthier thinking, improve confidence and support goal setting.
Locations being delivered in: City of Bristol, Gloucestershire County Council, Herefordshire County Council and South Wales (Blaenau Gwent, Caerphilly, Merthyr Tydfil, Monmouthshire, Rhondda Cynon Taf, Torfaen and Vale of Glamorgan)
Type of evaluation: Feasibility Study; Pilot Study
Evaluator: Manchester Metropolitan University
Funding: £737,359
Partners: Hull FC Rugby Community Sports and Education Foundation, Leeds Rugby Foundation, Warrington Wolves Charitable Foundation, Wigan Warriors Community Foundation, Leigh Youth and Community Development Trust, Saints Foundation St. Helen’s and Huddersfield Giants Foundation
Name and aim of programme: Inspiring Futures Programme
Inspiring Futures aims to prevent young people from getting caught up in violent crime through work in the classroom, local community and with their families. The programme combines a mix of universal and targeted sports-based interventions, delivered by the charitable foundations of seven Rugby League clubs and supported by the RFL.
Locations being delivered in: Hull, Leeds, Warrington, Wigan, Leigh, St. Helen’s and Huddersfield
Type of evaluation: Feasibility Study; Pilot Study
Evaluator: Manchester Metropolitan University (MMU)
Funding: £661,000
To download the full list of organisations to be awarded funding in our launch grants round, please click HERE.
