Background
The Merseyside Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) established the Merseyside Violence Reduction Partnership (MVRP) to prevent and reduce serious violence in the area. In 2024, the MVRP merged its Arts Culture Sport (ACS) fund with the Youth Diversion Fund administered by the PCC to provide bigger grants and reach more young people through ambitious and engaging projects. The result, the Youth Empowerment Scheme (YES) Fund, received funding of up to £25,000 to deliver interventions across the areas of Liverpool, Sefton, Knowsley, St Helens and Wirral. It will work to reduce serious violence across the region.
Fortia Insight (formerly ERS) designed an evaluation framework, logic model and suite of research tools. Following this successful work, the contract was extended to cover an evaluation of the 2024–25 YES Fund programme.
Fortia Insight’s framework design and evaluation have influenced the MVRP and delivery organisations’ funding and programme design.
- Informed delivery adjustments: the findings have been used by delivery organisations to redesign and structure interventions and programmes.
- Shaped future funding calls: insights from the evaluation have guided the design of the 2025–26 funding programme.
- Built capacity and knowledge: the report, framework and learning workshops have contributed to building the capacity and knowledge of the delivery organisations regarding data collection, impact and assessment.
Challenges
- Designing a framework and suite of tools that were appropriate for a diverse range of ages and learning needs. With participants between 5 and 25 years of age, including young people with special educational needs and disabilities, tools had to be inclusive, adaptable and numerous. We developed a set of tools to be used with different age ranges and learning needs, alongside clear guidance on how to select the best tool for the participant group.
- Delays to the programme due to the Southport stabbing of 2024 and the following race riots. We adapted the framework and collection methods to account for delays and changes to delivery, working individually with organisations to select the most appropriate tool and data collection approach.
- Engaging a broad stakeholder base: we conducted interviews, surveys and case study visits with the programme team, delivery teams, young people, parents/carers and others to ensure a balanced and inclusive evaluation.
Impacts
- Young people reported the interventions supported them to reduce conflict within their lives, improve their mental and physical health and control their emotions better.
- Shared identity and experience were highlighted as an important means of reducing isolation and loneliness for young people.
- Statistics from the Police and Crime Commissioner showed that serious crime in Merseyside had been prevented and reduced.
- Cultural change was being achieved across the region via networking, collaboration and the adoption of the public health approach to dealing with serious violence.
- Cultural change was being achieved through the whole family approach to build resilience among communities, not just young people.