Since 2010, the number of council-run youth centres in Britain has more than halved, but at what cost? Drawing on her research into the history of youth clubs, author Emma Warren explores their cultural significance and their role in helping young people discover their identity, build connections and stay safe. With the government’s new National Youth Strategy, is this a fresh start or a false dawn?

Links & Resources

• Book: Up the Youth Club: Illuminating a Hidden History by Emma Warren 
• Book: Dance Your Way Home: A Journey Through the Dancefloor by Emma Warren 
• Research: Children, violence and vulnerability 2024 | Who has access to positive activities, youth clubs and trusted adults? 
• Research: Children, violence and vulnerability 2025 | Exploitation and Gangs 
• Research: Beyond the Headlines 2025 
• Policy paper: Youth Matters: Your National Youth Strategy 

 Follow us on Instagram: @youthendowfund

Tell us what you think in this short survey

Host: Ciaran Thapar, Youth Endowment Fund 

Series Producer: Meera Kumar 

School absences, suspensions, and exclusions have reached record highs in recent years. Behind the numbers is a complex story of trauma, vulnerability and unmet needs. What’s causing this trend — and how can we tackle it? Kiran Gill, former teacher and founder of The Difference, explores how schools can prevent lost learning while helping children stay safe. 

Links & resources 

Website: The Difference 

Resource for education leaders: Education, Children and Violence 

Resource for policymakers: Education Policy, Children and Violence 

Research: Association between school exclusion, suspension, absence and violent crime 

Research: Beyond the Headlines 2025 

Research: Making The Difference: Breaking the link between school exclusion and social exclusion 

Research: Who is losing learning? 

Research: Lost learning: Prevalence, inequalities and outcomes of internal exclusion in mainstream secondary schools 

Stats: Suspensions and permanent exclusions in England 

The Youth Endowment Fund believes that no child should be affected by violence.  

We research violence to understand it; we find, fund and test what works to prevent it; and we are building a movement to end it.  

To find out more, visit ⁠⁠YEF's website⁠⁠.

Follow us on Instagram: @youthendowfund 

⁠⁠Tell us what you think in this short survey⁠⁠

Host: Ciaran Thapar, Youth Endowment Fund 

Series Producer: Meera Kumar 

‘Social media drives violence.’ It’s a common claim, but is it true? Forrest Stuart, Professor of Sociology at Stanford University, paints a more nuanced picture. Drawing on his time with teenage gang members on the South Side of Chicago, he explores the tension between young people using social media to provoke, stay safe and seek validation, their posts being used against them in court, and the increased risks of victimisation for those living in urban poverty. 

Links & Resources

Website: ⁠⁠Stanford Ethnography Lab⁠⁠ 

Book: ⁠⁠Ballad of the Bullet: Gangs, Drill Music, and the Power of Online Infamy⁠⁠ by Forrest Stuart 

Book: ⁠⁠Down, Out, and Under Arrest: Policing and Everyday Life in Skid Row⁠⁠ by Forrest Stuart 

Research: ⁠⁠Children, violence and vulnerability 2025 | The scale of violence affecting children⁠⁠ 

Research: ⁠⁠School climate and the impact of neighborhood crime on test scores⁠⁠ 

The Youth Endowment Fund believes that no child should be affected by violence.  

We research violence to understand it; we find, fund and test what works to prevent it; and we are building a movement to end it.  

To find out more, visit ⁠⁠YEF's website⁠⁠.

Follow us on Instagram: @youthendowfund 

⁠⁠Tell us what you think in this short survey⁠⁠

Host: Ciaran Thapar, Youth Endowment Fund 

Series Producer: Meera Kumar 

‘Social media drives violence.’ It’s a common claim, but is it true? Forrest Stuart, Professor of Sociology at Stanford University, paints a more nuanced picture. Drawing on his time with teenage gang members on the South Side of Chicago, he explores the tension between young people using social media to provoke, stay safe and seek validation, their posts being used against them in court, and the increased risks of victimisation for those living in urban poverty. 

Links & Resources

Website: Stanford Ethnography Lab 

Book: Ballad of the Bullet: Gangs, Drill Music, and the Power of Online Infamy by Forrest Stuart 

Book: Down, Out, and Under Arrest: Policing and Everyday Life in Skid Row by Forrest Stuart 

Research: Children, violence and vulnerability 2025 | The scale of violence affecting children 

Research: School climate and the impact of neighborhood crime on test scores 

The Youth Endowment Fund believes that no child should be affected by violence.  

We research violence to understand it; we find, fund and test what works to prevent it; and we are building a movement to end it.  

To find out more, visit YEF's website.

Follow us on Instagram: @youthendowfund 

Tell us what you think in this short survey

Host: Ciaran Thapar, Youth Endowment Fund 

Series Producer: Meera Kumar 

At the age of 12, he was using drugs. By 13, he was selling them. By 14, he was trapped in a world dominated by fear and violence. Speaking anonymously, a young man shares his powerful story of being pulled into county lines and how he found a way out. He reflects on the harsh risks, realities and misconceptions about criminal exploitation, and what needs to change to protect children from it.

LINKS & RESOURCES

• Children Violence and Vulnerability 2025 - Exploitation and gangs

• Leaders Unlocked

• Just For Kids Law

The Youth Endowment Fund believes that no child should be affected by violence.  

We research violence to understand it; we find, fund and test what works to prevent it; and we are building a movement to end it.  

To find out more, visit: The Youth Endowment Fund

Follow us on Instagram: @youthendowfund 

Host: Ciaran Thapar, Youth Endowment Fund  

Series Producer: Meera Kumar 

In an age of social media and ‘toxic influencers’, are too many boys growing up without positive role models? 

Jack Reynolds shares the journey of Football Beyond Borders, showing how football can support children at risk of school exclusion and violence. He explains how, through setting up the Lost Boys Taskforce, the sense of belonging and relationships forged on the football pitch have inspired a new goal: giving every young person access to a trusted adult outside their family home. 

Links & Resources 

Football Beyond Borders 

The Lost Boys Taskforce 

Children, violence and vulnerability 2024 | Who has access to positive activities, youth clubs and trusted adults? 

Youth work and violence prevention 

The Youth Endowment Fund believes that no child should be affected by violence.  

We research violence to understand it; we find, fund and test what works to prevent it; and we are building a movement to end it.  

Find out more on the Youth Endowment Fund

Tell us what you think

Take this short survey

Host: Ciaran Thapar, Youth Endowment Fund  

Series Producer: Meera Kumar 

What does safety really mean to a child growing up around violence? 

Safe is a new podcast from the Youth Endowment Fund, hosted by Director of External Affairs and Youth Understanding - Ciaran Thapar, bringing lived experience, culture and evidence together to confront one of the defining issues of modern Britain. 

Each episode opens with one simple question: 
“When you were a child, how did you keep safe?” 

🎙️ Launching 4 February 
📅 New episodes every week 

Follow SAFE so you don’t miss the first episode. 

Justin Finlayson shares how to keep young people safe in the recording studio, why drill music makes him uncomfortable and what his journey from prison officer to bus driver to charity CEO has taught him about preventing violence.

To find out more about United Borders, visit: http://unitedborders.org/

Safe is hosted by Ciaran Thapar, Director of Public Affairs and Communications at the Youth Endowment Fund and author of Cut Short: Why We’re Failing Our Youth — and How to Fix It.

The Youth Endowment Fund is a charity which funds, researches and promotes ways of preventing violence amongst children and young people. To find out more, visit: https://youthendowmentfund.org.uk/

Series Producer: Meera Kumar

Professor Carlene Firmin shares how shop workers can be community guardians, why we are all responsible for keeping young people safe, and what her journey from aspiring journalist to charity worker to renowned social work academic has taught her about preventing violence.

To find out more about Contextual Safeguarding and Carlene’s work visit: www.contextualsafeguarding.org.uk

Safe is hosted by Ciaran Thapar, Director of Public Affairs and Communications at the Youth Endowment Fund and author of Cut Short: Why We’re Failing Our Youth — and How to Fix It.

The Youth Endowment Fund is a charity which funds, researches and promotes ways of preventing violence amongst children and young people. To find out more visit: https://youthendowmentfund.org.uk/

Series Producer: Meera Kumar