£11m to help young people build resilience

The £11 million National Lottery Community Fund programme has involved recruiting 11,000 young people in Blackpool in what is being called a revolutionary approach to building resilience.

The programme runs to 2021, and, if successful, could become a blueprint for other towns and cities looking for innovative place based approaches to building resilience.

Young people are at the heart of the programme and are involved at every level including strategic development, training, commissioning, promotion, provision of support, and researching. You can listen to young people’s experiences in the Revolution Researchers’ team on YouTube. 

The programme is based on research and practice development by colleagues at the University of Brighton’s Centre of Resilience for Social Justice (CRSJ) and Boingboing, a social enterprise working closely with the Centre.

Their work has already brought practical, sustainable solutions to health and well-being challenges throughout Europe, South East Asia, Australia and Africa.

Dr Suna Eryigit-Madzwamuse

Dr Josh Cameron

Boingboing colleagues have supported the development, implementation and delivery of the Blackpool programme and now, with a successful £390,000 tender from the project funding, CRSJ colleagues Dr Josh Cameron and Dr Suna Eryigit-Madzawamuse are leading the research evaluation of the programme, working with a team of researchers based in Blackpool. Two Phd studentships were also awarded to the University of Brighton to focus on aspects of the programme related to young people’s friendships and their education.

Dr Eryigit-Madzwamuse said: “I feel deeply privileged to be co-researching with young people, practitioners and residents in Blackpool. That town’s Resilience Revolution is one of the most exciting test and learn programmes I have been involved in. Our complex and co-produced research design will significantly influence future research and practice in this field.”

Dr Cameron, Principal Lecturer in the School of Health Sciences, said: “We were very excited to have been selected for this tender and hope it will identify world-leading evidence related to using a whole systems resilience building approach to meeting the needs of children and young people facing a range of social, economic, educational and health challenges.”

The Blackpool project is part of HeadStart, a five year, £75 million National Lottery Community Fund programme. They are the largest funder of community activity in the UK. It aims to build the emotional resilience and wellbeing of young people aged 10 to 16 and prevent serious mental health issues before they develop.