Youth Endowment Fund & Comic Relief announce £10m programme to tackle violence
Melanie May | 10 August 2021 | News
The Youth Endowment Fund and Comic Relief are to spend up to £10 million to find out how early investment in family support programmes can keep children safe from involvement in violence later in their lives.
The direction for this grant round follows a four-month consultation with over 450 people working to keep children safe, including teachers, community and youth workers, police officers, and social workers. Children and young people with lived or near experience of violence also shared what they wanted to see funded.
The evidence revealed that to prevent violence, support was needed for children in all kinds of families, as well as for those in foster families or residential care where there are challenges like conflict or domestic abuse, alcohol or substance misuse or where other family members are involved in crime.
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As a result, the funding will focus on four areas:
- Parenting programmes (including programmes for foster carers or people working with children in residential care), which help parents and their children to develop positive behaviours and relationships.
- Family therapy interventions (including for children in foster care), which offer whole families structured forms of therapy.
- Programmes to reduce parental conflict, which are specifically designed to improve relationships between parents or carers.
- Domestic abuse interventions, which are specifically designed to prevent and reduce harm to children and adults.
By funding programmes in England and Wales, the Youth Endowment Fund aims to build knowledge of how best to support families, including building understanding of what works for children in the care system.
Applications for the grant round, ‘A supportive home – helping families to overcome challenges’ will open on 27 September, and more information is available on the YEF’s website here.
Samir Patel, Chief Executive, Comic Relief, said:
“Early intervention with families who need support can have a dramatic effect on the lives of young people. We’re really excited that this programme has been co-designed with young people, they have used their experiences and knowledge and identified the services they would like to see delivered, alongside advice from expert key workers. Everyone deserves the best start in life and I hope these new programmes and outreach services will help transform the lives of thousands of people.”
Jon Yates, Executive Director of the Youth Endowment Fund, said:
“Every child deserves a life free from violence. If we’re going to achieve our mission and make that a reality, we need to make sure every child grows up in the supportive home they deserve.
“This investment with our partners at Comic Relief gives us a unique opportunity to learn how we can best help families of all different types. Then we can use that learning to make sure children who have often experienced adversity very early in their lives are given the services and support they need to keep safe from involvement in violence.”
About Melanie May
Melanie May is a journalist and copywriter specialising in writing both for and about the charity and marketing services sectors since 2001. She can be reached via thepurplepim.com.