Cordis Bright and United Borders are pleased to announce the publication of the evaluation protocol for the Youth Endowment Fund (YEF)-funded efficacy trial of the Building an Understanding of Self (B.U.S.) programme.

B.U.S. is a trauma-informed, music-based mentoring intervention designed to support young people aged 10–17 who are at risk of, or already involved in, violence and offending across Greater London. The programme combines one-to-one mentoring with creative music production, delivered on custom-fitted mobile recording studio buses and in community venues.

The published protocol sets out plans for a large-scale randomised controlled trial (RCT) and implementation and process evaluation, which will assess the impact of the programme on self-reported offending, wellbeing, behaviour and peer relationships. The evaluation will recruit 684 young people, who will be randomly allocated either to receive the B.U.S. programme or business-as-usual support.

Alongside the RCT, the study will explore how the programme is delivered in practice, how young people experience the intervention, and the factors that support successful implementation and engagement.

Fieldwork and programme delivery began in January 2026, with final reporting expected in Autumn 2028.

The full evaluation protocol is available below.

For more information about the evaluation, please contact Emma Andersen.