Dartington to lead new Youth Endowment Fund COVID-19 Learning Partnership

The Dartington Service Design Lab joins the Centre for Youth Impact, Research in Practice and the University of Plymouth to form the Learning Partnership for the new Youth Endowment Fund COVID-19 Grant Round.  

Over the next 12 months, the Learning Partner will work closely with the Youth Endowment Fund and the grantees funded in this special round to generate and disseminate learning grounded in evidence. We will focus on understanding the impact of COVID-19 on young people at risk of being drawn into violent crime, and the most effective approaches to reaching, engaging and serving vulnerable young people during the pandemic. 

The Learning Partner will also create essential resources to support grantees as they adapt their work with and for young people, and draw out learning for grantees, the Youth Endowment Fund and the wider sector.

The process 

First, the Learning Partner will undertake a rapid synthesis of existing evidence and research literature, before engaging with key stakeholders from youth sector networks, violence reduction units, local government representatives, multi-agency safeguarding partnerships and a broad range of academics.

Using systems mapping, data analysis and expert interviews, the Learning Partnership will explore changes in the needs of young people, and how the services that support them have adapted since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. This will underpin a learning framework which will be used to understand both the influence and impact of COVID-19, and of the grantee activities.

We will co-produce a range of outputs with grantees through a series of learning opportunities, including virtual workshops, webinars and peer-to-peer gatherings. Learning will also be shared widely beyond grantees via briefings, blogs and focused reports. What emerges from this grant round will shape policymaker, funder, and delivery organisations’ understanding of how to meet young people’s needs in times of rapid change.

Collectively, the four partner organisations bring a wealth of expertise in designing, developing and evaluating youth-centred provision, and supporting best practice development. We look forward to the opportunity to share with and learn from the many grantee organisations as they do essential work to support young people during this unprecedented time.   

For more information on the four partners or for media requests, interviews and photos, please contact the Lab’s Communications Manager, Rachel Lily.