To tackle violence affecting young people in London and provide more pathways to opportunity.
The Challenge
London faces a critical challenge: tackling violence affecting young people and ensuring clear pathways to opportunity. There has been real progress — reductions in violent incidents and homicides, and a clearer picture of the impact of prevention — built on strong partnership work across the city through the Violence Reduction Unit, the police, youth and community organisations, the NHS, local authorities and schools. Key challenges remain:
- Social media — regulators, platforms, parents and NGOs need to work together to remove exposure to online harassment and harmful behaviours.
- Housing — there is a strong link between homelessness and violence; a UK Parliament survey found 67% of people released from prison without sustainable housing will reoffend.
- Community partnerships — an estimated 10% of young people in London (around 890,000) are at risk of violence; powerful community programmes such as My Ends reach 25,000 people a year.
The Bridge Institute’s Role
The purpose of the Safe Life Mission is to fundamentally enhance the safety of people in London and provide more pathways to opportunity for young people. The mission has identified the key points of leverage that, if left unsolved, continue to drive the challenge — designed to generate both the systemic change and the relational capabilities required to undermine the core drivers of safety and opportunity for young people.
Our Approach
The work is structured using the Bridge Institute’s Breakthrough Hourglass — a problem-solving framework refined over many years of tackling complex, intractable challenges. It is a creative process that takes participants on a journey of seeing things differently, surfacing new insights, and shaping the future together — focused on both solving systemic challenges and developing the societal leadership required to make a lasting impact.
Impact So Far
1. The Breakthrough Summit
110 leaders from government, business, the NHS, the Metropolitan Police, major employers, local authorities, charities and young people came together around one question: how might society, business, and government together tackle violence affecting young people and ensure clear pathways to opportunity? A roadmap of seven breakthrough solutions has been documented.
2. The Advanced Changemaker Programme
15 senior leaders on the front line of serious violence took part in a four-day transformation programme in Devon, building skills in systems thinking, large-scale mindset change, visionary leadership, and coaching and mentoring.
3. The Junior Changemaker Programme
23 young people at risk of violence came together for a four-day programme to transform their mindsets, become a force-for-good, and build employment skills including leadership, communication and problem-solving — with sport and creativity each day.
4. The Employer Programme
Bringing UK employers together to create more employment and training opportunities for young people (running April 2026).
“The mission was eye-opening, inspiring and — with the connections I’ve gone on to make — potentially life-changing. It made me realise the power of opportunities like this for young people like me.” — Young person on the Changemaker programme
“I’m such a strong believer in relational approaches to challenge-solving, and the approach you and your team have developed over decades is genuinely the best I’ve seen.” — Catherine Hasted, Deputy Director, Skoll Centre, Saïd Business School, University of Oxford
“On Monday, I watched around 25 young people walk into a room — silent, suspicious, disengaged. By Thursday, they were dancing and hugging, and not one person was left behind.” — Facilitator, Safe Life Mission Breakthrough Summit
What’s Next
Following the Breakthrough Summit, the Bridge Institute is committed to delivering the roadmap created there — using its seven points of leverage to help transform the knife-crime crisis in London. To learn more or get involved, contact the Mission Director, Tina Oldham.
Mission Partners
The London Violence Reduction Unit · The Amyas Valora Foundation · Bridge Partnership · Future Governance Forum
