Youth Endowment Fund & Comic Relief open £10m fund
Melanie May | 27 September 2021 | News
The Youth Endowment Fund (YEF) and Comic Relief have today opened a £10 million fund, which will invest in up to ten projects that will help them learn more about how early investment in family support programmes can keep children safe from involvement in violence later in their lives.
The announcement 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. Through Comic Relief, children and young people with lived or near experience of violence also got involved to tell the charities what they wanted to see funded. The direction for this grant round has been set by their knowledge, alongside a review of the evidence.
The evidence showed the charities that to prevent violence, they should provide support to children where there are challenges like conflict or domestic abuse, alcohol or substance misuse or where other family members are involved in crime. It also showed that they should ensure they’re reaching all kinds of families, as well as children who are in foster families or residential care.
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As a result, the funding focuses 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, specifically designed to improve relationships between parents or carers.
- Domestic abuse interventions, specifically designed to prevent and reduce harm to children and adults.
Each of these approaches is backed by existing evidence, which the Fund is looking to build on. Today, they’ve also published a summary of what they’ve learned about each of these approaches so far.
By funding programmes in England and Wales, the two expect to build on this knowledge of how best to support families, as well as what works for children in the care system.
To find out how to apply, more information is available on the YEF’s website.
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.