The Brent and Newham Covid-19 Over-Represented Children Pathfinders (“the Pathfinders”) were funded by the Youth Justice Board (YJB) as a response to the disproportionate impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on racially minoritised communities. Covid-19 was understood to be exacerbating the adverse childhood experiences of some children and young people from these communities.

The Pathfinders aimed to engage and support children and young people from these backgrounds who may not previously have been well supported by the system, with a combined offer of one-to-one mentoring and group-based activities.

Brent and Newham Councils commissioned Cordis Bright to independently evaluate the Pathfinder programmes. The evaluation, which launched in 2022, focused on the implementation of the Pathfinders, the difference they made for the children and young people they supported as well as for the wider system in Brent and Newham, and learning for the future. The final evaluation outputs produced by the evaluation included the following:

Overarching report

Evaluation report for Brent

Evaluation report for Newham