This is an update to the statistics published in our Beyond the Headlines report. This update includes latest data on core indicators for knife crime, policing, health, children’s services and the youth sector in England and Wales. Core Indicators Dashboard For more details, see the full briefing or our core indicators dashboard.| Youth Endowment Fund
Explore how poverty relates to youth crime and violence. Read YEF and UCL’s evidence review on risk factors, gender, family and future interventions.| Youth Endowment Fund
What does our core indicator show? Overall, this measure shows a mixed picture. Over the past decade, absolute poverty has broadly been falling. However, the past two years have shown meaningful increases. In the latest year (2023/24), an estimated 3.85 million children were living in poverty in the United Kingdom, equivalent to 26% of all…| Youth Endowment Fund
Discover how poverty is linked to youth crime and violence. Read YEF’s insights from UCL’s research and what’s next in testing solutions.| Youth Endowment Fund
Read YEF's blog on why youth voice matters, and how to integrate their views into your every day work.| Youth Endowment Fund
This is the YEF’s second annual Children, Violence and Vulnerability report (see the 2022 version). It includes survey responses from over 7,500 teenage children aged 13-17 in England and Wales about their experiences in the past 12-months. This builds on last year’s survey of 2,000 children. We’ve used the same online panel provider (Walr) that…| Youth Endowment Fund
Sign up to our newsletter to receive the latest news, funding opportunities and research to help support the prevention of youth violence.| Youth Endowment Fund
Our partnership with SEBP partnership is helping to bridge the gap between research and policing practice — making sure that knowledge is not only generated but also used where it matters most.| Youth Endowment Fund
The Youth Endowment Fund is here to prevent children becoming involved in violence.| Youth Endowment Fund
We fund work in England and Wales that aims to prevent children and young people from becoming involved in violence – especially those aged between 10 and 14-years old. Every programme and activity we fund, we’ll evaluate. We do this because we want to learn what works, for whom and why. We will use this knowledge…| Youth Endowment Fund
Trends in violence over the past decade. We have created a core indicators dashboard, tracking 11 key measures.| Youth Endowment Fund
This bold and ambitious initiative brings funders together with a shared goal: to prevent children from being harmed by or drawn into violence.| Youth Endowment Fund
Each time we publish our annual Race Equity Progress Report, I feel a mix of pride, resolve and, if I’m honest, vulnerability. Because while this work is about policy, practice and systems change, it’s also deeply personal. When equity is lived, not just planned For many of us, race equity isn’t just a strategic priority,… The post Why Race Equity at YEF Feels Personal – And Always Will appeared first on Youth Endowment Fund.| Youth Endowment Fund
Jon Yates shares reflections from the Youth Opportunity Summit held in July 2025, as well as talking to about the newly formed Serious Change Funders Partnership| Youth Endowment Fund
The aim of this research is to examine the relationship between school exclusion, suspensions and absence, and subsequent offending and violent behaviour| Youth Endowment Fund
Our Education Policy, Children & Violence guidance, provides policymakers with 8 recommendations on how to prevent children’s involvement in violence.| Youth Endowment Fund
Our Education, Children and Violence guidance provides school, college and alternative provision (AP) leaders across England and Wales with fiveevidence-based recommendations on how to help prevent children’s involvement in violence. Recommendations The recommendations in this report provide guidance on the ‘best bets’ from the underpinning evidence. School, college and AP leaders’ professional judgement on how…| Youth Endowment Fund
New data from the Department of Education show a concerning image of suspensions and permanent exclusions in England with both rising to record highs.| Youth Endowment Fund
A mentor can be one of the most positive role models in a young person’s life. By building a strong, trusting relationship with a suitable adult brings many emotional, social and developmental benefits – may of which directly reduce the risk of children’s involvement in violence How mentoring helps prevent youth violence Mentoring can significantly… The post The power of mentoring to reduce youth violence appeared first on Youth Endowment Fund.| Youth Endowment Fund
At YEF we are committed to building the best and most reliable evidence on what works to prevent children and young people becoming involved in violence. We do this by funding high quality, cutting edge, research. We are pleased to announce that, as a result of our latest call for secondary data analysis (SDA) projects,…| Youth Endowment Fund
Our latest blog from our Youth Advisory Board member reflects on why lived experience and early support are key to reducing knife crime| Youth Endowment Fund
Learn more about our recent Leading Effective Multi-Agency Partnerships for Supporting Children at Risk of Violence conference| Youth Endowment Fund
Police in Classrooms| Youth Endowment Fund
You can watch or listen to Safe on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon and wherever else you find your podcasts.| Youth Endowment Fund
The impact of violence on young people Violence and the fear of violence has both physical and emotional impacts on children and young people, perhaps more acutely than many of us realise. 67% of teenage children are concerned about becoming victims of violence and 22% say that the anxiety has taken a toll on their… The post Evaluating Violence Prevention: Key Insights for School Leaders appeared first on Youth Endowment Fund.| Youth Endowment Fund
On Adolescence Over the weekend, without taking a break, I watched all four episodes of Adolescence, Stephen Graham’s Netflix mini-series about the arrest of a 13-year-old schoolboy for murdering one of his classmates and its impact on his life, family and community. I was gripped, partially because it is a rare thing for British television…| Youth Endowment Fund
Programmes that engage children in arts and creative activities.| Youth Endowment Fund
At the Youth Endowment Fund, we aim to prevent children from being drawn into violence. We think any credible plan to reduce violence has to recognise that children rely on seven essential sectors to be safe, one of which is children’s services. In each sector we are working with delivery organisations and system leaders to…| Youth Endowment Fund
Multi-Systemic Therapy (MST) is a family therapy programme which works with children and their families when the children are at risk of being placed in custody or care.| Youth Endowment Fund
A family-based therapy which helps to promote positive communication between parents and children.| Youth Endowment Fund
Adventure and wilderness therapy programmes involve activities in which children and young people work together to overcome a challenge.| Youth Endowment Fund
Conference| Youth Endowment Fund
Upcoming events| Youth Endowment Fund
This involves training and other workforce changes whose primary aim is to improve staff understanding and response to trauma.| Youth Endowment Fund
Simulation-based Holistic Approach to reducing and Preventing Knife Violence (SHARP).| Youth Endowment Fund
LNK Educate is a school-based programme for 9-14 year olds that aims to reduce involvement with crime and violence.| Youth Endowment Fund
At the Youth Endowment Fund, we aim to prevent children from being drawn into violence. We think any credible plan to reduce violence has to recognise that children rely on seven essential sectors to be safe, one of which is education. In each sector we are working with delivery organisations and system leaders to better…| Youth Endowment Fund
Download YEF's latest statistics update for the most recent data and trends in violence affecting children and young people.| Youth Endowment Fund
Four months after the ban on so-called “zombie knives,” our Youth Advisory Board (YAB) argues that while the ban is a step in the right direction, more comprehensive action is needed to effectively tackle knife crime. The 2016 ban on zombie knives was hampered by a loophole, allowing retailers to circumvent restrictions by simply removing…| Youth Endowment Fund
Learn more about the work YEF are doing to support the Youth Justice sector - to protect children at risk of involvement in violence.| Youth Endowment Fund
To give us a broad picture of what’s happening in the youth sector, we’ve chosen spending on young people’s services as our core measure. This includes universal provision (e.g. leisure, cultural and sports-based activities, often based in youth centres) and targeted provision (e.g. substance misuse or teenage pregnancy services). The latest (2023/24) data was published…| Youth Endowment Fund
What does our core indicator show? Overall, this measure shows a mixed picture. Over the past decade, absolute poverty has broadly been falling. However, the latest year has shown an increase. In 2022/23, 25% of children in the UK were living in households in absolute poverty – equivalent to 3.6 million children. This is down…| Youth Endowment Fund
We’ve used the proportion of crimes that are successfully investigated by the police as our core measure for this sector. We’ve considered a crime to be successfully investigated if it resulted in (1) a charge or summons or (2) a formal or informal out of court disposal. Investigation of crime is one of the primary…| Youth Endowment Fund
We’ve used the total number of children in contact with NHS-funded secondary mental health, learning disability and autism services as our core measure for this sector. The latest (2023/24) data was published in October 2024. This captures children who have been referred to these services by their GP or another healthcare professional and includes both…| Youth Endowment Fund
Research by the Department for Education shows children who are persistently absent without an authorised reason are more likely to commit a serious violent offence after accounting for a range of factors. For this reason, and due to the stark increase in school absence following the pandemic, we’re using the proportion of children persistently absent…| Youth Endowment Fund
One group of children particularly at risk of harm is those looked after by the local authority, who also show significantly higher rates of serious violent offending compared to the general child population. For this reason, we are using the number of children looked after by the local authority as of 31st March of each…| Youth Endowment Fund
The Youth Endowment Fund exists to prevent children from becoming involved in violence. One of the ways we seek to achieve this mission is improving support for children when they are arrested. This includes diverting them from formal youth justice processes like appearing at court. This is a critical moment where effective support can change…| Youth Endowment Fund
To track how well the youth justice sector is functioning, we’ve chosen to use children’s reoffending rates as our core measure. An offence is considered reoffending if it leads to a caution or conviction within 18 months of a previous offence (at the point either a caution or conviction was served or a period of…| Youth Endowment Fund
Read our latest blog in honour of national Youth Work Week 2024 - as Head of Change for Youth Sector reflects on current topics.| Youth Endowment Fund
Learn more about the work YEF are doing to support the Youth Sector - to protect children at risk of involvement in violence.| Youth Endowment Fund
At the Youth Endowment Fund, our aim is to prevent children from becoming involved in violence. We believe that any effective strategy to reduce violence must acknowledge that children depend on seven key sectors for safety, this includes policing. Within each sector, we collaborate with delivery organisations and system leaders to gain deeper insights and…| Youth Endowment Fund
How do we best support the neighbourhoods sector to support children at risk of violence outside the home?| Youth Endowment Fund
At the Youth Endowment Fund, our mission is to prevent children and young people from involvement in violence. To actively tackle this, we acknowledge children are dependent on seven key sectors to help them stay safe – one of these is through psychological therapies and health interventions. In each sector, we are collaborating with delivery…| Youth Endowment Fund
The Peer Action Collective (PAC) is a ground-breaking network of young people, who are conducting research about young people's experiences of violence.| Youth Endowment Fund
Triple P| Youth Endowment Fund
Trauma-specific therapies, also known as trauma-focused interventions, aim to support children to recover from trauma.| Youth Endowment Fund
Media campaigns aim to raise awareness about the consequences of involvement in violence and knife crime.| Youth Endowment Fund
Knife surrender schemes, also called ‘weapon amnesties’ or ‘knife amnesties’, aim to remove weapons from the street by providing bins or collection points where people can drop them off.| Youth Endowment Fund
Knife crime education programmes aim to reduce knife carrying amongst children and young people.| Youth Endowment Fund
A&E navigator programmes place a case worker, called a ‘navigator’, in hospital emergency rooms to support children and young people with a violence-related injury.| Youth Endowment Fund
An overview of existing research on approaches to preventing serious youth violence.| Youth Endowment Fund
We want to understand if, how and when effective collaboration between agencies can prevent children from involvement in violence.| Youth Endowment Fund
Restorative justice supports the victim of a crime and the person responsible to communicate, repair harm and find a positive way forward.| Youth Endowment Fund
Diversion is an approach to preventing reoffending by finding alternatives to formal criminal justice proceedings.| Youth Endowment Fund
Mentoring programmes match a child with a mentor and encourage them to meet regularly.| Youth Endowment Fund
A police strategy that targets resources and activities to places where crime is most concentrated.| Youth Endowment Fund
A look at trends in violence affecting young people over the last 10 years - with focus on 11 key indicators for violence.| Youth Endowment Fund
The UK riots in August 2024 brought to light significant issues facing the nation’s young people, with a worrying number of teenagers involved in the disturbances.| Youth Endowment Fund
Sports programmes could have a high impact on crime and violenceOur estimate is based on one review of six studies. The review also found desirable impacts on reducing aggression, promoting mental health and responding to other behavioural difficulties.| Youth Endowment Fund
Focused deterrence attempts to identify the people most likely to be involved in violence and supports them to stop.| Youth Endowment Fund
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) is a type of talking therapy that is used to manage negative or impulsive thoughts and behaviours.| Youth Endowment Fund
We want to understand if and how empowering people to make decisions about their local neighbourhoods can prevent children from becoming involved in violence.| Youth Endowment Fund
We want to find out how agencies can better share data, power and information to prevent children from becoming involved in violence.| Youth Endowment Fund
Social skills training supports children to think before they act, understand other people’s perspectives and communicate effectively.| Youth Endowment Fund
Two questions I get asked a lot as head of the Youth Endowment Fund is “does social media cause violence?” and “what do we do about it?” So, here’s my attempt at some answers. Does social media cause violence? The short answer is we don’t know, but I think it’s likely. Here’s the thing: there…| Youth Endowment Fund
Every life lost due to violence is one too many. However, violence isn’t inevitable. Recent data shows there are reasons to be cautiously optimistic. In 2022/23 (the latest year we have figures for), hospital admissions for assault with a knife or sharp object were down 9% on the previous year.| Youth Endowment Fund
Bringing together stories from 1000s of young people The efforts of Peer Researchers and the Delivery Partner organisations supporting them yielded a remarkable amount rich qualitative data from 4,600 young people on issues of violence. Initially, our priority was to validate GenAI’s capability to precisely analyse the diverse data originating from various locations throughout England…| Youth Endowment Fund
It is five years since the Youth Endowment Fund was born. Five years is a long time – I know because I had a three-year-old when this work started. She’s been replaced by someone who is eight. We exist because she should be growing up in a world where all children feel safe. But that’s…| Youth Endowment Fund
In order to address knife crime effectively, we need to understand the full extent of the problem. View our latest stats, & Toolkit evidence.| Youth Endowment Fund
Prof. Iain Brennan and Dr Tia Simanovic discuss one of the most ambitious and comprehensive evaluations of focused deterrence ever undertaken.| Youth Endowment Fund
As part of the Department for Education-funded £30 million SAFE Taskforce programme, Bradford was identified as one of 10 areas nationally where youth violence presents a significant problem. In 2022, Bradford was allocated £3.3 million by the DfE to bring together a group of local schools to reduce children’s vulnerability to serious violence. And so,…| Youth Endowment Fund