Summary
The Youth Endowment Fund (YEF) is seeking to appoint up to four regional consortia for a Detached Youth Work (DYW) fund. Each consortium will be a multi-agency partnership—led by a public or youth-focused organisation—responsible for planning and delivering DYW in their region as part of a pilot Randomised Controlled Trial (RCT).
Working alongside an independent evaluator, each consortium will take part in a co-design process to finalise both delivery and evaluation plans. Following this, consortia will identify 10 suitable ‘patches’ for DYW. These will be randomly assigned to either an ‘intervention’ group (where DYW will be delivered) or a ‘control’ group (where it will not). Consortia will deliver DYW in the five intervention patches, and ensure that no delivery of DYW takes place in the five control patches (monitoring any non-DYW youth services that are delivered there instead). Progression to the co-design stage, and then to the delivery stage, will be subject to the approval of YEF’s Grants and Evaluation Committee.
The trial will test the feasibility of conducting a full-scale RCT of DYW, and thus contribute to the evidence base on DYW’s potential to reduce youth violence. This trial will build on the findings of YEF’s feasibility study into DYW.
Project aim
The fund’s core aims will be to:
- Deliver Detached Youth Work in line with an established shared practice model, across five intervention patches per region.
- Successfully run a pilot RCT and Implementation and Process Evaluation of Detached Youth Work.
A shared practice model of DYW has been developed through a prior feasibility study and sets out the core principles and delivery approach. While there may be limited refinement during the co-design phase, the model will serve as the foundation for all delivery.
What’s involved
Each regional consortium will be responsible for:
- Participating in the co-design process, supporting the development of delivery and evaluation plans.
- Identifying 10 suitable hyper-local patches for randomisation (five intervention, five control), based on evaluator guidance.
- Planning and delivering Detached Youth Work within five local patches assigned to the ‘intervention’ group.
- Overseeing and reporting on activity within the five ‘control’ patches, ensuring that no DYW is delivered, and monitoring the deployment of any other youth services.
- Supporting the independent evaluation team with data collection and stakeholder engagement activities.
Regional consortia will need to commit to not delivering DYW in control patches for the duration of the trial and work closely with YEF and the evaluator throughout the project.
Who should apply
Each consortium must include representation from:
- Local authorities
- Local police force(s), who must be prepared to share crime and anti-social behaviour data for evaluation.
- Detached youth work providers, with experience of delivering DYW (ideally in line with the shared practice model).
Consortia may also include additional partners such as Violence Reduction Units, centre-based youth work organisations, or other relevant voluntary sector agencies.
How to apply
Regional consortia will be appointed through a competitive tendering process. This will involve submission of a full proposal, followed by interviews with shortlisted applicants only.
Proposal forms should be downloaded and completed in Word format. Please adhere to the word limits provided. Alongside the proposal form, you must also submit:
- A completed risk register
- A timeline
- A budget
- Letters of support
Templates for all supporting documents are included in the proposal form and also available here.
Completed applications should be sent to grants@youthendowmentfund.org.uk. The deadline for submitting proposals is 9am, Monday 11th August 2025.
Questions
If you have any questions, please contact ben.moffat@youthendowmentfund.org.uk, specifying Detached Youth Work proposal in the subject line of your email.