“Almost a decade ago, in the summer of 2011, an incident of police brutality triggered a short period of social unrest which came to be known as the London riots, starting in London’s Tottenham and quickly spreading both in London and several other UK cities. A range of contributing factors such as poor relations between marginalized communities and the police, social and economic inequality, and the lack of career prospects and opportunities available to young people have been cited in research carried out since the riots took place.

In response to such problems, the Clothworkers’ Foundation set up a proactive funding grant stream, Better Futures, which aimed to support projects which prioritised the needs of disadvantaged young people in
predominantly urban areas. The majority of projects were funded for a period of three years and at the end of the funding period nfpSynergy was commissioned to carry out an evaluation of the impact the grants had on the young people supported, as well as their families and wider communities. Although, of course, the funding alone could not hope to solve the full range of issues which led to the riots, it was found that the projects supported were having a profound impact on the lives of young people participating in a wide variety of ways. These ranged from supporting the young people to grow in confidence and develop their aspirations for the future, through to giving them the practical tools they needed to secure career opportunities.”

As one of the projects nfpSynergy chose to support with a long-term grant, ReachOut took part in some research to assess impact.

Please click below for the full report, with research into ReachOut displayed on pages 23-29.