As part of Levelling the Playing Field’s ‘peer research’ month, we visit the Peer Action Collective who ask other young people about their experiences of youth violence and use their findings to create change in their local communities.
The Peer Action Collective (PAC) will see 6,500 young people aged 10-25 take part in youth-led action to end violence by shaping the solutions they want to see in their communities.
The £5.2 million nationwide project powered by the Youth Endowment Fund, #iwillfund and Co-Op involves peer research taking place all over England and Wales through a network of local partners.
In Yorkshire and the Humber, Sheffield Wednesday Community Programme and Bradford City Community Foundation have teamed up with the EFL Trust to recruit 12 young people who have lived experience of violence, crime and anti-social behaviour. They will canvass 480 peers for their experiences and knowledge of local issues and help create community projects which seek solutions.
It’s early days, but the process of using peer research to drill down into the core issues and devise youth-led solutions has already impressed Peter Walker, Project Manager at the EFL Trust.
“Once upon a time people like myself would take a clipboard and do outreach work with young people in parks, whereas actually a young person speaking to another young person, one-to-one or in a group, is far more powerful,” he said.
“We did a pilot in schools and the young people got so much from it. They were able to draw information out in an informal way. Young people selling the idea that they’re trying to benefit the community breaks down any barriers straight away.
“This is something that makes so much sense in terms of finding out what young people’s needs and concerns are in their communities, and using young people to make positive change. In terms of credibility, that is such a difference from adults telling young people what they need.”
The PAC researchers meet with local community groups, schools, local authority services, councillors, police and other organisations, to help in the development and impact of their research, and future social action.
The findings of the Bradford and Sheffield groups will be used by 75 ‘changemakers’ who will turn the research into action. This could involve improving local youth activities, mental health services or youth employment opportunities. The peer research from across all 10 delivery regions across England and Wales is also fed into an app to create a central evidence base.
“In Bradford, we are focusing our research on why young people feel they must carry a knife,” says Pavan Sembi from Bradford City Community Trust. “It comes down to them not feeling safe, so we’ve tried to find out why that is. We’ve held meetings with the council on community safety and drilled down into issues such as drugs and poverty.
“As far as the young people they are interviewing are concerned, it’s a positive situation. They can ‘speak the language’ better than we as adults could, which makes them want to get on board. Some will hopefully become changemakers. It’s something they are happy to contribute to because they feel like their voices are being heard. Our researchers say to them, ‘If you want change, you’ve got to be part of it.”
In Sheffield, the six researchers have conducted workshops and debates in a local school on knife crime and sexual violence. The researchers and changemakers are also looking into starting a community sport session to divert local youths from crime.
“Amongst our group we have young people who have themselves been excluded from school or have experience of youth violence,” explains Jacob Walkland, Sheffield Wednesday Community Coach. “They have seen that side of it and the fact they are leading the sessions means young people relate to them much more.”
Levelling the Playing Field’s Justin Coleman recently met the peer researchers from Bradford and Sheffield and delivered a workshop on how to identify their ‘Community of Safety’ while they are out interviewing their peers. It laid out how to keep themselves safe, as well as identifying ‘trauma triggers’ in interviews and who and where to make referrals if they have concerns.
Justin commented: “I was really impressed by the level of care Jacob and Pavan demonstrate towards their respective teams and the care the peer researchers had for each other, the children they want to work with and the purpose of the project. Whilst fun and active, they are serious about making a difference to making children and their local communities safer and more socially connected."
The PAC project initially lasts 18 months but it is expected to continue after that, with the research and community action from the first year being passed on to the next cohort to develop.
Peter said: “This project is going to be hugely beneficial for the country to find out about the root issues of youth violence from those at the heart of the community. It could potentially form part of the Levelling Up agenda. We will find out from young people what we can do to upskill and develop them in order to put people on positive pathways and help eradicate youth crime and anti-social behaviour.”
Shamza Butt, one of the researchers with Bradford City Community Trust, says: “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, so 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.”