EFL in the Community has partnered with the Youth Endowment Fund, #iwill Fund and Co-op to deliver a regional programme of a national £5.2 million ground-breaking new youth-led network called the Peer Action Collective (PAC); which involves giving young people, aged 10–25, a voice and the chance to make their communities safer, fairer places.
The project will reach nearly 6,500 young people nationally who will take part in action to end violence in their communities. That might involve designing and carrying out research as a peer researcher, leading campaigns in their communities as a changemaker, or sharing their views on violence, so that they’re shaping the solutions they want to see in their communities.
EFL in the Community works with Bradford City Community Foundation and Sheffield Wednesday Community Programme in the Yorkshire and Humber regions, delivering positive change within the community, that has been implemented by the young people involved.
There are currently 15 Peer Researchers that have worked with more than 830 research participants to make a change within the communities of Bradford and Sheffield, alongside 200+ Changemakers. The Researchers are concentrating upon building partnerships with local community groups, schools, local authorities’ services, councillors, Police and a range of other organisations, in order to assist in the development and impact of their research, and future social action.
Read more about the insights from local young people and solutions via PAC’s insights and recommendations in their research report: ‘Leading research, driving change’. The work we have done in Yorkshire and Humber is on Pages 32-34.
Peer Researchers
Changemakers
Research Participants
“Being a peer researcher means I can find out more about young people’s experiences in my area and then take action to improve their lives. I hope to join the police force, and being a PAC peer researcher appeals to me as a way of learning more about the causes of crime as well as how to prevent it and change teens’ minds. Obviously, if we can’t change our generation now, these problems are going to be our future.”
“With the job I’m currently working in, I feel this would be a good way for me to connect and understand with the young people in local areas, I also want to give the young people the chance to impact their local area in a positive way.”
“I am interested in making a good impact in my community. I feel young people need a positive voice and I want to be part of a positive change within the city of Bradford.”
“I want to understand why people commit crime and what measures we can take to change this. As a young person myself, I can support my local communities by giving back and being a part of the PAC.”
The PAC Peer Researchers design their own research questions and work with other young people, to find out about the young people’s experiences of violence and their views on how they can help make their communities better places to live and work.
The findings will be used by a group of changemakers, who will take what the researchers learn and turn it into action. From campaigning to improve local mental health services, setting up a youth centre or supporting young people into employment. The PAC has set out to create opportunities for young people to make their communities a safer, fairer place.
To find out more about the project, visit the Youth Endowment Fund’s website