The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has today announced that London’s Violence Reduction Unit (VRU) is to invest £6 million in new funding in providing local communities with direct funding

and support to deliver targeted interventions to tackle violence in their neighbourhoods.

The VRU’s MyEnds programme has been developed to put communities at the forefront of tackling violence by giving them the support they need to deliver locally designed interventions in areas of the capital that are affected by high and sustained levels of violence.

In some parts of London, violence is often concentrated in small areas, such as an estate, a cluster of streets, or a main road. The MyEnds programme will give communities the backing they need to develop their own initiatives to bring about change in their neighbourhoods, and to provide positive opportunities for young people living in the area.

The programmes bring together local groups and individuals as part of a local community network that involves residents, community groups, young people, youth outreach workers, local authority wardens and the police, to deliver meaningful change where they live and work. 

Following detailed discussions with London’s communities, the VRU recognises that those closest to the issues should have a central role in bringing about change needed to make neighbourhoods safer and to tackle the complex causes of crime.

After receiving 31 applications, the VRU – the first to be set up in England - carried out a series of interviews and have now awarded eight community consortiums with funding and support from City Hall. Each community network will receive up to £750,000 funding to April 2023, as well as ongoing support from London’s VRU.  

By taking a consortium approach, it has helped smaller groups and individual Londoners to partner together and means that decision-making is shared out, rather than with a lead provider exclusively.

The successful bidders are consortiums in:

Brent – Estates in Chalk Hill, Stonebridge and Church End

Lambeth - Angell Town, Loughborough and Moorlands estates

Croydon – London Road

Hackney  – Hackney Wick, Marsh Hill, Homerton

Haringey – Tottenham Hale ward

Newham - Canning Town North, Custom House, Plaistow South Ward – with a focus on the Barking Road.

Southwark - North Peckham estate, Rockingham, Brandon and Aylesbury.

Tower Hamlets - Four E14 neighbourhoods located within the Isle of Dogs - Island Gardens, Blackwall and Cubitt Town, Canary Wharf and Poplar. 

The consortiums will be investing in a variety of activities and projects, including mentoring, parent support, youth work, training young people in dealing with trauma and mental health, establishing community champions and developing a community leadership programme for local residents. In some cases, this will involve increasing capacity of well-established programmes and activities so they can be provided more regularly, or to help more people. 

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, said: “The underlying causes of crime are complex and deep-rooted, made worse by a decade of Government cuts to policing, youth clubs and community services. 

“I’m committed to being tough on crime by investing more in policing than any other Mayor, and tough on the causes of crime by funding hundreds of positive opportunities for young Londoners in high crime areas of the capital.

“I set up London’s Violence Reduction Unit – the first in the country – to lead a public health approach to tackling the causes, and while it’s positive that violence fell both before and during the pandemic, it’s clear there is more to do.

“The VRU is committed to tackling violence before it occurs. Investing in programmes like MyEnds is about putting communities at the forefront, supporting them and giving them the tools they need to drive down violence and make our city safer for all Londoners.”

Lib Peck, Director of London’s Violence Reduction Unit, said: “I was really impressed with the high calibre of applications, particularly the passion, commitment and drive there is amongst community groups to really get to grips with tackling violence.

“We know that violence knows no border, and it’s not often focused on an entire borough or area of London. Instead, it tends to be very localised and concentrated on estates or small pockets of roads. Experience tells us that it’s often local people who know what’s best for improving the area they live and work in, and that’s why we’re supporting local people and local communities to help bring about change and provide better opportunities for young people.    

“Through the MyEnds programme we have gained an even deeper understanding of the community strength there is to violence reduction and I’m really looking forward to working with the eight consortiums on solutions to driving down violence and helping them create a safer area they can be even prouder to call home.”  

Steve Phaure – Croydon – said: “This part of London Road has long been known as Croydon’s ‘crime-capital’ – but it’s also the gateway to our town centre, an exciting cultural quarter and home to a strong, grassroots sector. 

“MyEnds provides us with an opportunity to build on this area’s strong sense of community and – by working more creatively with our Police, NHS and Council partners – not just reduce violence on London Road but really get to grips with its underlying causes.”

Oliur Rahman, Founder and Joint Chief Executive of Active Communities Network said: 

“Southwark has witnessed and suffered from serious youth violence. Our consortium aims to change this by ensuring that overlooked grassroots organisations and leaders are valued, empowered, equipped and connected. This funding provides us with the opportunity to build and embed three new community-led networks across central Southwark (covering Peckham, Camberwell, Walworth, Elephant & Castle and Old Kent Road). 

“These networks will influence how the funding is allocated, build co-produced programming to prevent and respond to the issue, and champion local and youth decision making.  This MyEnds consortium is made up of six trusted grassroots organisations who value building relationships with likeminded groups, taking a peer to peer approach in supporting such organisations. This is where we believe the solutions to youth violence lies.”