The Safer Lives project has now moved into the pilot phase of the study, marking an important milestone as delivery begins to take shape across our partner areas.
Safer Lives is a three-year research project exploring how the Strengthening Families, Strengthening Communities (SFSC) programme can support families and young people affected by crime and serious violence. Funded by the Youth Endowment Fund, the study combines community-based delivery with rigorous evaluation of the SFSC programme to build evidence about what works for families in these circumstances.
We now have all five delivery sites up and running — four in London and one in Greater Manchester. Local authority partners include Hackney, Camden, Islington, Hammersmith and Fulham, Kensington and Chelsea, Westminster, Waltham Forest, Newham and Tower Hamlets, Lambeth, Southwark and Wandsworth, as well as Stockport, Manchester, Trafford and Salford.
The Safer Lives team is now fully in place. We have recently welcomed Nay Girelli and Nick Wedderburn as Programme Officers, along with Michael Zorah who joins the project in Manchester as a Peer Researcher. Together with the wider team, they will play an important role in building relationships with families and local services and supporting delivery of the programme.
Alongside this, the research infrastructure for the study is now operational. Our information management systems are in place to support secure data collection and with the support of the Clinical Trials Unit at Bangor University, the system for randomising participants within the study is ready to go. The team has been undertaking training to ensure everyone is confident using these systems, alongside refresher training on safeguarding and programme delivery.
We have also been working closely with Bernadette Rhoden, Head of Training and Curriculums, to ensure staff are fully familiar with the adaptations made to SFSC for Safer Lives so that the programme meets the needs of families involved in the study.
Over the past months the team has been meeting with local stakeholders across delivery areas, introducing the project to youth justice services, education professionals and community-sector organisations who are supporting referrals and helping families learn about the opportunity to take part. Our Peer Researchers are also currently working with Rise 360 to create a short film documenting their role in the project and the importance of youth voice in the study.
We have now begun taking referrals to the project and will start delivery of the first SFSC Safer Lives programmes in April.
We look forward to sharing further updates as the pilot phase progresses and to continuing to work alongside families, practitioners and partners as the project develops.
