Project information

London Youth Now

A policy, awareness raising and training project which seeks to ensure that young people in London, and organisations working with them, can tackle hate crime and promote community cohesion. Particpants are supported to become Young Champions and influence local policy and practices affecting them.

Five years

Charity information: The IARS International Institute

The IARS International Institute logo
  • Need

    Need

    Challenges associated with social cohesion exist across all communities in London and affect entire neighbourhoods; young and old. Young people experience the profound impacts of living in communities where issues of social cohesion fail to be meaningfully addressed; including gang activity and acts of serious youth violence. London Youth Now tries to tackle this problem by bringing young people into the processes of policy and service design aimed at addressing these issues.

    Solution

    London Youth Now provides internships, and shorter term volunteering opportunities, to young Londoners to undertake research and policy work into social cohesion issues affecting their lives. The projects brings young people's voices to the policy making table with regard to issues of social cohesion. By ensuring that the youth voice is heard by policy makers, "youth proof" solutions can be identified for tackling complex social issues.

  • Aims

    Aim 1

    250 young Londoners gain skills to become Young Champions in their neighbourhoods.


    Activities

    » Through research, policy and campaigning activities, interns and volunteers are able to influence local policy and practice regarding social cohesion.

    What success will look like

    Success will be 250 young participants in the project improving their knowledge of best practice in policy and practice and sharing this with their local communities.

    Aim 2

    500 organisations in London better able to address social cohesion problems by engaging young people


    Activities

    » Monthly IARS newsletters highlight best practice for engaging with young people to improve social cohesion and to tackle specific social problems.

    What success will look like

    Success will be 500 organisations across London, engaging meaningfully with young people in order to improve outcomes when tackling local problems in social cohesion.

  • Impact

    Impact

    Policy makers and service providers recognising the value of engaging with young people to achieve reliable policy outcomes. A recognition that policies and services aimed at tackling problems of social cohesion are best achieved by engaging with young people and promoting their ability to lead on their own policy projects.
    We will demonstrate this success through close and on going monitoring of young participants and the organisations they are working to influence.

    Risk

    The most significant risks relate to safety of young people when undertaking fieldwork. This problem has been dealt with by providing thorough research training and by establishing a protocol for undertaking research safely which is adhered to by all.

    Reporting

    This project is funded by the Big Lottery Fund. It is a prerequisite for receiving this funding that in-depth monitoring reports are completed twice a year. In order to ensure information is accurate on going monitoring and evaluation takes place throughout the project.

  • Budget

    Budget - Project Cost: £50,000

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      Amount Heading Description
      £50,000 Training Training and supporting young people to carry out reserch and policy work

    Current Funding / Pledges

    Source Amount
    Big Lottery Fund £50,000 Conditional
  • Background

    Location

    London Youth Now is a pan London project highlighting local solutions to improving social cohesion by engaging with young people. The project aims to encourage local organisations to share best practice with organisations in other local authorities tackling similar problems in social cohesion. Best practice is shared through IARS' monthly newsletter.

    Beneficiaries

    The immediate beneficiaries of this project are young people who are involved. In the short term, young people benefit through volunteering opportunities which provide them with a wealth of skills including research skills, presentation skills and communication skills. In the long term young people benefit from more effective policies which are formulated based on youth engagement. The impact of improved social cohesion policy extends to the entire community.

  • Why Us?

    Why Us?

    We are unique in being the only youth-led social policy think tank in the UK. We are experienced in facilitating robust policy and research work for young people through volunteering opportunities with full support from staff. This experience places us perfectly to undertake this important and ambitious project to improve social cohesion across London.

    Read more about the Charity running this project.

    People

    Rachel Cass

    Rachel is the Research and Policy Coordinator at IARS. It is her responsibilty to coordinate all activities relating to London Youth Now.