To undertake this report, the author drew upon his own knowledge and experience of the subject matter and, in particular, his period as Director of the Scottish Violence Reduction Unit, the first organisation in the world to apply public health methodology to the issue of inter-personal violence. In addition, he utilised a range of methods to gather additional evidence, including:
➢ An analysis of documentation relevant documentation and reports alongside statistical and objective assessments of some of the successful projects that have been providing benefit in respect of youth intervention.
➢ Interviews (n=20) with VRU Directors and team members, partners, community leaders, young people and academics which provided insights about the future opportunities to build on the success of the VRU programme to date.
➢ The author undertook research and gathered documentation relevant to potential funding opportunities which were not solely reliant on public sector grants or procurement.
➢ Finally, the contributions of over 3,000 young people during Hope Collective ‘Hope Hacks’ provided an essential element to this process.
