The Stronger Futures Programme enables community-led groups to support vulnerable 10-18-year-old Londoners by providing opportunities and support in the hours following school, as well as at weekends in some cases. It has invested £1.9m across 18 projects across London with grants of £40,000-£100,000pa.
From the outset Rocket Science worked closely with the VRU alongside our delivery partner, Action for Race Equality (ARE) to listen to the community and user-led groups, creating a new online streamlined process with transparency on programme aims, objectives, priorities and customer journey.
The programme provided a partnership approach to working alongside grantees including Rocket Science and ARE providing 5 days of capacity building support for each grantee. This saw organisations focus on key priorities including:
- improving policies
- fundraising
- finance
- health and wellbeing
- social media support.
With a target reach of 2,400 young people, the programme saw over 5,000 vulnerable 10–18-year-olds supported.
The programme has identified the need for further interventions at a younger age and has enabled organisations to become more fundable in the near future. This has become a strategic programme informing future grantmaking and processes within the VRU.
“Rocket Science have worked with the VRU on its flagship after school provision programme “Stronger Futures”. Our partnership, since 2021 has been instrumental in funding and supporting 18 grassroots organisation to work alongside and support over 5,000 vulnerable young Londoners. I’m pleased to be working with Rocket Science for the next iteration of the Stronger Futures programme over the coming years”
Lib Peck, Director of the Violence Reduction Unit (VRU)
