We’re really proud to announce the launch of this report on how the NHS could adopt and spread the work of Redthread in supporting young people in ED and reducing their future involvement in violence. This in depth study was funded by The Health Foundation and produced by DREEAM in collaboration with The Health Foundation and Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust.

Barbara Cathcart, Chief Executive of Nottingham Hospitals Charity, said: “We are pleased to be able to support both Redthread and DREEAM, two important programmes at Nottingham’s hospitals. We believe the Youth Violence Intervention Programme here in Nottingham is making a real and meaningful difference to the lives of our community’s most vulnerable young people, and are pleased to see this is being backed up by these research findings. We look forward to giving our support to this service as it continues to develop and help more young people in our community.”

Redthread’s Youth Violence Intervention Programme (YVIP) aims to:

• Support Emergency Department teams to make sure they take a holistic approach to tackling youth violence and exploitation
• Present pathways out of violence and exploitation for young people wanting to make positive changes in their lives
• Promote and nurture partnership working and join up the way in which local services respond to youth violence and exploitation

We undertook this realist evaluation to see how the YVIP was set-up, integrated into ED work and how it could be sustained and adopted in more emergency departments. 

The research found that:

• NHS clinical staff and organisations were keen to engage with and support the YVIPs
• YVIPs fill a crucial gap in support because NHS Emergency and Major Trauma services are currently unable to offer equivalent identification, assessment and “wraparound” support to young people experiencing violence and exploitation.
• There is widespread agreement that youth violence has complex roots within communities and that hospital-based interventions can only make a significant contribution when linked into a network of community services and support
• Close cooperation across NHS, Local Authority and Criminal Justice services is an essential foundation for the further spread of YVIPs. 
• The creation of local Violence Reduction Units, and the recent NHS focus on prevention and integrated “place-based” care, has created new opportunities to spread YVIPs further.

It has been really encouraging to see that since the report was completed, local partnerships across the East Midlands, West Midlands and London have committed to supporting Redthread and the roll out of its YVIP: 

• The Nottinghamshire Violence Reduction Unit helped to gain funding for Redthread’s King’s Mill Hospital pilot from the three local community safety partnerships following a successful scoping exercise.
• The Nottinghamshire Office for the Police and Crime Commissioner has been working in partnership with Nottinghamshire Violence Reduction Unit and NHS England Midlands region to manage the significant joint funding contract for the Redthread Nottingham team. This has been complemented by 2 years funding from Nottingham Hospitals Charity.
• Following partnership and funding support from West Midlands Violence Reduction Unit and Birmingham Women’s and Children’s NHS Foundation Trust, Redthread was able to start providing support to Birmingham Children’s Hospital from October 2020.
• The Redthread Birmingham team secured ongoing partnership funding contributions from the West Midlands Violence Reduction Unit, NHS Birmingham and Solihull Clinical Commissioning Group, University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Trust, UHB Charity and NHS England Midlands, all supported by the Redthread Birmingham Steering Group. 
• Redthread’s liaison at the Mayor’s Office for Police and Crime (MOPAC) has been advocating for future funding commitments from the London Violence Reduction Unit for existing (and new) Redthread roles.
• Redthread’s Youth Endowment Fund Another Chance application for funding towards existing programmes was supported by the three relevant violence reduction units (May 2021).

You can read about The Health Foundation's funding of Redthread’s YVIP and watch the video on the programme here

And if you’d like to support Redthread’s work further, you can donate and look for opportunities here

We’d like to thank everyone who was involved in the commissioning, writing and publication of this report, and in particular all our funding partners who are committed to continuing the vital work of Redthread’s essential programmes.