Haringey Community Gold (HCG)

I think Community Gold is one of the reasons why serious youth violence, robbery, gun crime is falling [in Haringey]. It is a partnership, but I think that is one of the reasons.

Eubert Malcolm, Assistant director for stronger and safer communities, Haringey Council

About the partnership

1. Haringey Community Gold (HCG) is an early anti-crime intervention funded by the Mayor’s Young Londoners Fund (YLF). Through a strengths-based public health approach, the programme aims to support young people to discover their talent and fulfil their potential.
2. Launched in 2019, the scheme is run by the council and a range of voluntary and community sector partners.
3. Provider organisations submitted individual proposals to Haringey Council, who operate as the lead partner, forming a provider consortium.
4. HCG provides outreach and engagement, employment support, sports and play, mentoring, mental health support and leadership training.

What has gone well

1. The HCG offer was developed at the outset using a Theory of Change.
2. Since its inception, the programme has undergone iterations based on a growing understanding of the programme and in collaboration with the programme’s Youth Advisory Board.

Challenges experiences and overcome

1. Challenges in measuring outcomes were emphasised in the HCG year 2 evaluation; this was largely due to lack of centralised data collection across partner organisations. Different approaches to data collection were trialled yielding mixed results.
2. Investment beyond initial funding, as encouraged by the Community Safety Partnership, Violence Reduction Unit and the Deputy Mayor of policing.

Results

1. By December 2021, 6924 (115% against target) young people have engaged with the programme, and 3819 (255% against target) benefited from community activity enabled through the programme.
2. In 2020 a total of 2,119 additional young people were supported by the HCG programme despite the global pandemic.
3. These links were largely driven by the Outreach Team which connected with other parts of the Council to identify young people who may need support.
4. Key learning points and a framework for supporting smaller partnership working and collaborating with the private sector.
5. HCG recognised as an effective model of best practice for addressing the needs of young people at risk of involvement in crime.
6. HCG promoted by London Borough of Haringey and the Greater London Authority.

What made the difference

1. Involvement of young people from the inception: to better understand entry points for successful strengths-based and preventative public health interventions.
2. Close partnership: between statutory and voluntary organisations.
3. Evidence-based: evaluation partner was appointed to build an evidence-base.