News and opinion

At the Youth Endowment Fund, we’re working towards a world where all children can live a life free from violence. Every year, children across England and Wales are tragically killed in knife attacks or other forms of violence. However, last figures published from the Homicide Index suggest we’re moving rapidly in the right direction, with…

At Peer Action Collective (PAC) Wales, we value the role trusted adults play in young people’s lives. One consistent adult who listens, shows empathy, and follows through shapes how a young person seeks help and makes decisions. For many young people, trust takes time. It grows through everyday actions. When adults get this right, young people feel safe enough to speak…

Today, the Youth Endowment Fund (YEF) has published the first systematic review of UK based qualitative research exploring children and young people’s accounts of their involvement in violence.  At YEF, we exist to prevent children and young people from becoming involved in violence. To do that, we need to understand the reasons why children and young people become…

Why education is central to preventing violence  Our vision of a world where no child becomes involved in violence relies on strong, proactive partnerships with education leaders, practitioners, and policymakers. Education is one of our seven priority sectors because schools and colleges are uniquely placed to make a difference. Every day, education settings safeguard children,…

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…

Understanding the scale of teenage relationship abuse Every year, thousands of young people across England and Wales experience relationship violence. Our annual Children, Violence and Vulnerability survey, the largest household study of youth experiences of violence, hears directly from nearly 11,000 young people aged 13–17. It reveals the ways in which young people experience violence and the concerning extent of harms facing children in relationships.  The shape of…

Marking Restorative Justice Week, we’re taking a closer look at how restorative justice is increasingly shaping discussions around violence, accountability and rehabilitation — and why the evidence behind it is becoming harder to ignore. It also feels especially timely that one of the most compelling stories about restorative justice has made its way onto a West End stage this autumn.  Putting restorative…

The Neighbourhood Fund puts local communities at the centre of preventing youth violence. Instead of designing solutions from afar, the fund supports people who know their neighbourhood best, residents, local organisations, and young people themselves, to decide: To do this, the Fund invests in five neighbourhoods that have experienced some of the highest and most…