Between the end of 2011 and the beginning of 2012 a programme (EGYV– Ending Gang and Youth Violence) to end youth and group violence was introduced in the United Kingdom. It has been operative for four years and 52 local authorities (there were 33 when the programme began) have participated and a network of 100 experts has been created with cutting edge experience of working with youth groups.
The programme focussed on seven specific areas:
- Strengthening local leadership
- Locating and identifying problems
- Collaboration with different agencies
- Assessment and remission
- Focussed and effective interventions
- Penal justice procedures
- Mobilizing communities
In November 2016 the independent report was published to assess the impact of the programme. To carry out this assessment, two surveys were done (one before and the other afterwards, in September 2015) and 20 of the responses from local areas participating in the programme were separated into two cohorts of 10, in accordance with whether they had joined the project at the beginning (in 2012) or later (in 2014). Furthermore, six local areas have been examined in detail (three from each temporary group), with 39 quality-oriented interviews of professionals from the different fields involved being carried out. It has also been taken into account that the recommendations given in a peer review of the situation have been applied.
Local areas have stated that the EGYV programme has had a “galvanising effect” on improving the participative work of the several agencies which offer support to the areas to implement strategies in response to the most pressing local issues. The peer reviews had mostly been implemented (89% of the area groups involved in the 2012 programme, and71% of the group which joined in 2014). Overall assessment has been positive, as improvements in all areas were noted. In spite of some differences between the two cohorts, the most significant effect is that areas involved since 2014 have benefited from the experience gained over the project’s two-year duration.
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