Lambeth Peer Action Collective

The Lambeth Peer Action Collective (LPAC) is a collective of young people and youth organisations working together to create better futures for young people through youth-led research and social action.

In 2021, High Trees became the London delivery partner for the national Youth Endowment Funded Peer Action Collective (PAC) program. Partnering with locally rooted youth organisations such as Juvenis, IRMO, Spiral, St Matthews Project, and Motivate and Lead Community Enterprise, we recruited and trained a dynamic team of 12 young people in research and organising. This team, known as the LPAC (Lambeth Peer Action Collective), embarked on a mission to uncover the root causes of violence affecting young people in Lambeth.

Research and Insights

The LPAC team, drawing from their personal experiences growing up in Lambeth, sought to understand how the environment, particularly social housing conditions, influenced young people’s experiences of violence. LPAC reached over 400 young people aged 11-25 through one-on-one interviews and creative research workshops. The findings were compiled into their inaugural research report, launched in March 2023.

Community Organising

Adopting a community organising approach, the LPAC team collaborated with partner organisations and 200 young changemakers to develop the LPAC manifesto, advocating for improvements in housing, education, and opportunities to break the cycle of violence affecting young people. To drive change, the team also engaged with senior decision-makers through roundtable discussions, aiming to influence policy and practice for a safer Lambeth. Simultaneously, young changemakers were supported in implementing social action projects based on the manifesto. 

A Lasting Impact

As of 2024, the LPAC has transitioned from a project into a permanent partnership of youth organisations dedicated to supporting young people to build their collective power, research and organise around the issues that matter most to them. This expanded scope ensures that future LPAC teams can address a wide range of concerns deeply and widely felt by young people in Lambeth, beyond just violence affecting young people.

To learn more about the LPACs current research and organising efforts, please visit their website, link below.

The partners