Today marks the launch of the ground-breaking Peer Action Collective (PAC), a £5.2 million collaboration between Youth Endowment Fund, #iwill Fund (a joint investment between the National Lottery Community Fund and Department for Digital, Culture, Media, and Sport) and Co-op, which puts young people at the centre of taking action to end violence in their communities. Across the UK, PAC will enable young people between 10-25 to carry out research, lead campaigns in their communities as a changemaker, or share their views on violence, so that they’re shaping the solutions they want to see in their neighbourhoods.
High Trees along with Juvenis, Spiral Skills, IRMO, MLCE and St Matthew’s Project have been selected as the delivery partners for the London region. We have recently recruited 12 talented, young Peer Researchers aged 16-20 who will listen to their peers, ask questions and find out what needs to happen to make Lambeth a better and fairer place for young people to live in.
Launching today from Bradford together with delivery partners and funders, our Lambeth-based PAC will form part of 120 Peer Researchers working nationally to design their own research questions and work with other young people to learn about their experiences of violence. All the findings will be recorded on an app specifically designed for this project, and in a later stage be analysed and transformed to launch youth-led community action projects.
Peter Babudu, Director of Impact at the Youth Endowment Fund said: “The Youth Endowment Fund is here to find out what works to keep children safe from violence. We know that, without the voices of young people, we won’t be able to do that.”
“That’s why the work we’re doing with the PAC is so important. By learning more about young people’s experiences and what they want to see change, we can make sure our work amplifies their voices and makes a positive change.”
To learn more about the project, visit the Youth Endowment Fund’s website