Market Engagement Exercise for London’s Violence Reduction Unit (VRU) MyEnds 3.0 Programme

The VRU has conducted an engagement exercise with stakeholders and conducted a review of the existing offer in London. We are now seeking to recommission the service to ensure London continues to deliver a high-quality, community led and effective violence reduction intervention model for young people.

MyEnds 3.0 is an evolved version of the flagship VRU MyEnds programme which will run from April 2027 until March 2029. This new iteration will allow us to implement key learning from the MyEnds programmes and strengthen the key components of the overall programme design, optimising innovation with more targeted strategic alignment.

Background to Current Service :

The MyEnds programme utilises a hyper-local approach to address needs in neighbourhoods across the capital that are most affected by high and sustained levels of violence. The core model endorsed by the VRU for this programme is based on the empowerment of communities, recognising the critical role and collective impact community stakeholders have in local violence reduction initiatives. This is achieved through the delivery of key activity strands, including strengthening local partnerships, young people and community participation, capacity building of the grassroots sector, and the delivery of locally informed interventions.

Evidence shows that a community-led approach, by those who know their area and its challenges best, is the most effective way to prevent violence.

MyEnds provides communities with the tools and resources to deliver their own prevention measures. This includes support networks for parents and carers, after-school activities, youth work in neighbourhood youth clubs, mentoring and targeted support interventions.

Service Requirements

The VRU Area Prioritisation Tool, previously used to identify areas for the 2019 MyEnds pilot and MyEnds 2.0, has been refreshed with updated data and metrics to identify eligible locations for MyEnds 3.0. The tool identifies ward-level areas that have consistently ranked within the top 15% of London wards across a range of violence and public health indicators between 2021 and 2026. Based on this analysis, the 16 boroughs containing the highest-scoring wards have been shortlisted as eligible for the programme.

The VRU is seeking community-based organisations or consortium bids led by a lead provider to deliver the programme across these boroughs. Bidders will be invited to provide additional evidence of local need within their proposed delivery locations as part of the application process.

Eligible Boroughs:

1. Lambeth 2. Croydon 3. Southwark 4. Tower Hamlets 5. Newham 6. Enfield 7. Haringey 8. Hackney 9. Lewisham 10. Islington 11. Camden 12. Brent 13. Hillingdon 14. Greenwich 15. Wandsworth 16. Barking and Dagenham

Indicative Core Capabilities

The VRU is interested in understanding the market’s capability to deliver services with the following characteristics:

Experience of working in community settings – with young Londoners who are vulnerable and most-closest to violence.

Trauma-informed and youth-centred practice – skilled in supporting all young people, including those with complex and neurodiverse needs, with strong safeguarding knowledge and collaborative critical incident responses.

Strong partnership working – ability to collaborate with statutory agencies, voluntary and community organisations, and communities to deliver joined-up support.

Track record of violence reduction initiatives – ability to create pathways that lead to reduced harm, increased opportunities, and desistance through positive opportunities.

Monitoring and evaluation – capacity to capture both hard outcomes (e.g., reduced reoffending, ETE progression) and soft outcomes (e.g., improved confidence, resilience).

Cultural competence and lived experience – understanding of the communities served, with diverse staff teams that reflect and relate to young people’s experiences.