Serious Youth Violence is often defined as violence relating to incidents involving weapons and/or incidents causing serious injury. At YWF, we look at violence as an issue which impacts our young people, our community and wider society. As our new film brings to life, it is also an issue which can be prevented through community cohesions and targeted youth work.
That is why we are developing the Helping Hands Programme. Our ethos revolves around creating interventions that are led by the voices of young people and community members who have been directly and indirectly affected by youth violence.
Working in collaboration with local youth clubs and key partners, the programme will give communities ownership over creating innovative opportunities for the borough, building on the valuable work already being done to keep young people safe.
Marium Uddin – Programme Lead
Programme Aims
The Helping Hands Programme addresses the impact of serious youth violence in local communities. It creates opportunities for local interventions led by the voices of young people and community members directly and indirectly impacted by violence. We offer support by creating interventions led by the voices of young people and community members directly and indirectly affected by serious youth violence. Our Programme comprises three key areas: our Community Network, Community Fund and Community Capacity-Building offer for local community organisations and community leaders.
COMMUNITY FUND
Encouraging and empowering young people affected directly and indirectly by violence to create solutions and be involved in the decision-making process
COMMUNITY NETWORK
Supporting the community and professionals with funding by working in partnership to address the impact of youth violence
COMMUNITY CAPACITY BUILDING
Building the capacity of the community and professionals working to address youth violence through raising awareness, training, and personal development
Our Approach
The programme is steered by our Core Community of local practitioners and community members from the local community, who are all invested in creating more community-led initiatives and offering strategic support.
Core Community: practitioners from partner organisations who are all invested in creating more community-led initiatives led by community members through our capacity-building work.
Youth Advisory Board: Young People from the key estates we work within who have both direct and indirect experiences of violence.
Community Network: The Community Network provides a safe, community-driven space where partners, residents, and community members can openly discuss the impact of violence in our communities and explore proactive, preventative measures to address it.
Harrow Road Soup Kitchen, our lead community partner, are essential in delivering our Community Network in Westbourne, Harrow Road and Queen’s Park wards. Their team brings extensive local knowledge and valuable lived experience, which informs their work and the delivery of the programme. This network enables the community to lead and shape the process, creating a collaborative and inclusive environment.
Community Fund: Grants of up to £5,000 are available for members of the Community Network for Community-led Initiatives. The Community Fund is a community-led grants initiative that awards funding to organisations and individuals working in partnership with local organisations to deliver projects directly to community members and/or young people. The Fund has been developed to be accessible and flexible to meet the community’s needs.
Community Fund Panel: This panel, chaired and solely made up of local community leaders, partners, residents, and young people, met in March to award the inaugural funding.
The Community Fund has distributed £80,000 funding 17 place-based projects across Church Street, Westbourne, Harrow Road and Queen’s Park wards, making a tangible difference in our communities over the past two years.
The Chair of our North Paddington Community Fund Panel covering Westbourne, Harrow Road and Queens Park Wards, Deujean Bernard, founder of Harrow Road Soup Kitchen, resident and practitioner, said:
”It was a great experience and honour being given the opportunity to chair the Helping Hands panel. I received support from the previous Community Fund and saw its impact on our organisation. It’s a nice change to be able to have a say in some of the projects happening within our community around the issue of Serious Youth Violence. This should be used as a template for other community-led initiatives.”
Areas of Work
We cover seven wards in all three localities in Westminster.
NORTH WEST
Westbourne, Harrow Road and Queens Park Wards. Our community partner, Harrow Road Soup Kitchen, oversees the community engagement and community networks in these wards.
NORTH EAST
Church Street –We have a dedicated programme manager to help coordinate local response and support with building more partnership working between organisations.
SOUTH
Pimlico North, Pimlico South and Vincent Square. The programme team collaborates with local organisations to scope ongoing initiatives in the area and determine how the Community Fund can best support and enhance these efforts.
Our Impact
The Helping Hands Programme is built on the foundation of community empowerment. It centres around creating interventions led by the voices of young people and community members directly and indirectly impacted by Youth Violence. Our Programme comprises three key areas: our Community Network, Community Fund, and Capacity-Building offer for local community organisations.
“Over the last two years, I have worked with young people, our local youth and community organisations, community partners and statutory partners to develop the Helping Hands Programme to address the impact of Youth Violence on our communities, shaped by insights gathered from impact mapping sessions, community listening activities, and being visible in the community.
Central to our approach is capacity building, where we support organisations and individuals in accessing our Community Fund and its support offer, offering programme and service design, aid in delivery, training, and establishing sustainable processes within organisations. This collaborative effort involved every young person, practitioner, community member, leader, and funder.
Reflecting on the accomplishments of projects funded through the Community Fund fills me with a profound sense of privilege to be part of such an inspiring, considerate, and impactful community. I extend my heartfelt gratitude to everyone who has contributed to the programme thus far and those who joined us to celebrate these achievements.”- Marium Uddin, Programme Lead at YWF
Engaging with Community Voices
The programme is dedicated to ensuring that the voices of the community are leading the programme. Through our Impact Mapping activity, we can hear from those in the community about the direct and indirect impact of youth violence and how they think the impact can be addressed. We work with local partners to better understand how to ensure the programme remains accessible and flexible to complement the work already taking place in the community. We want to ensure the work isn’t duplicating valuable work, yet we want to support them to be more sustainable. This listening piece informs the programme, the priorities of the Fund, and how we can influence more systemic change in the local landscape.
In October, we organised a Development Day in Church Street, listening to local young people, youth workers, practitioners, Council officers, Police officers, community leaders, and community partners about their concerns and how the Programme can help to address these concerns and influence wider policy.
Below is the visual for the exercise from the Development Day.
Our Community Leaders
HARROW ROAD SOUP KITCHEN
‘My Harrow Road’, features Deujean Bernard, the founder and Managing Director of Harrow Road Soup Kitchen, a local organisation that offers support for the local community, reducing food poverty, building community cohesion, and collaborating with partners to increase opportunities for young people within Westminster. The film exemplifies the power of grassroots activism and the ripple effect of collective action.
ESP FDN
‘Don’t Tell Me, Show Me’, features Eartha Pond, the founder and CEO of ESP Foundation. The film captures the essence of leadership in action, highlighting the challenges, triumphs, and moments of profound impact experienced by girls and young women supported by the Girls Allowed Programme.
Community Fund
The Community Fund is a community-led grants initiative that awards funding to organisations and individuals working in partnership with local organisations to deliver projects directly with community members and/or young people. The fund focuses on opportunities for prevention and intervention for youth violence in the community.
We have a total of £90,000 available, with grants of up to £5,000. The funding has been made available through contributions from the Westminster City Council, the London Violence Reduction Unit, and Young Westminster Foundation.
Who can apply?
Organisations who are already delivering a service in Westminster.
Organisations who are looking to deliver pilot projects in the community.
Individuals with a community guarantor who can govern the project can apply. They must secure a community guarantor and submit a signed community guarantor agreement and the application.
Community Guarantor
The Helping Hands Community Fund has been created to be easily accessible for the community. As a funder, we require all applicants to have a bank account in their organisation’s name, signed annual accounts and registered with Companies House or the Charity Commission.
However, if you are an individual or a group of residents who are not part of an organisation or you are an organisation that does not have all the supporting documents, you can still apply through a ‘Community Guarantor’.
Geographical Area of Benefit
North Westminster Wards
Church Street, Westbourne, Harrow Road and Queen’s Park
South Westminster Wards
Pimlico North, Pimlico South and Vincent Square
We encourage applications to focus on children and young people who are directly and indirectly impacted by youth violence.
Size of available grants?
Grants of up to £5,000 are available.
Funding surgeries
Funding Surgeries are an opportunity to discuss ideas and support available for individuals and organisations interested in applying. We offer additional support with understanding the criteria, guidance, and application support. The Helping Hands Programme Team will be holding funding surgeries alongside members of the Core Community, which are bookable by email only. If you are interested in booking a slot, please email helpinghands@youngwestminster.com.
Priority will be given to applications meeting at least one of these criteria:
TARGETED APPROACHES: Work taking place or developed to address the impact of Serious Youth Violence on the community and why this work is needed.
SHOW A CLEAR UNDERSTANDING AND KNOWLEDGE Of Serious Youth Violence and its impact on the local community.
WORKING IN PARTNERSHIP: Demonstrate relationships with local partners to ensure young people have access to the best service possible and minimise duplication of services.
Applications must demonstrate one or more of the outcomes below:
Opportunities that offer prevention and intervention for serious youth violence in the community.
Projects which aim to increase the feeling of safety and belonging within communities.
Projects consulted with the local community and local young people.
We will not support applications for:
Work that takes place outside of eligible wards
Individuals who do not have a community guarantor.
Political activities
National organisations with no track record of delivery in Westminster
We are unlikely to support applications:
From organisations that are in serious financial deficit
Preference may be given to organisations which have not been funded multiple times through YWF grant funding
To find out more about the Fund, please contact the team on helpinghands@youngwestminster.com
Our Insight
In 2021, Young Westminster Foundation worked in partnership with member and partner organisations to conduct a consultation with the local community to understand the impact of youth violence in North West Westminster.
Responses were gathered using a quantitive survey with parents and adults, and focus groups with young people in youth club settings. These findings will be valuable in informing projects being developed. The consultation was generously supported and analysed by the Behave Team at Total Media, a behavioural planning agency and key YWF partner.
With thanks to Westminster City Council, Avenues Youth Project, Future Men, Queen’s Park Community Council and Westbourne Park Family Centre.
Want to speak to the YWF team about the Helping Hands Programme?
How Can I Help?
YWF MEMBERS & PARTNERS:
JOIN THE DISCUSSION
We welcome contributions from YWF Members and Westminster youth organisations, as well as strategic partners. We are open to ideas and insights that can be shared to help shape our long-term plan for addressing youth violence in Westminster.
