23 Sep 2026
On Friday 31 July, we were delighted to co-host the Girls and Young Women Local Groups Fund’s first quarterly meet-up with Abianda, focused on co-production with young women and girls affected by exploitation and violence in London, and building a network of practice with practitioners working with girls and young women.
What is the Girls and Young Women Local Groups Fund?
The Girls and Young Women Local Groups Fund is part a wider programme led by the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime in London (MOPAC), with the fund aiming to support local organisations in London to deliver group work and create safe, supportive spaces for girls and young women affected by violence and exploitation. Agenda Alliance supports the delivery of this fund in partnership with Abianda, a specialist charity working with young women and girls affected by criminal exploitation and violence, and Social Finance, who work to invest in and deliver lasting change to public services.
A total of 12 organisations based in and around London received funding as project partners to deliver co-production activities in their local groups, and we were delighted to bring together these organisations and the girls and young women they support for our first of four meet-ups where we co-produce as a collective. You can find out more about the organisations here.
Network of practice and co-production
The four meet-ups are centred around two key workstreams: co-production, undertaken with the girls and young women that the project partners support in collaboration with Abianda and Agenda Alliance, and the network of practice, where practitioners share insights, learning and expertise with peers across the programme.
Co-production: what is it?
In its most simplistic form, co-production refers to both professionals and people with lived experience working in shared power and partnership to produce and develop systems, services, and practices. ‘Co-production’ could be as granular as working together to develop a policy document, or as wide as developing an entirely new specialist domestic abuse service.
Within this project, we are working with girls and young women to:
- Generate contemporary understanding of unmet needs beyond the ‘gang member’ narrative.
- Identify and develop language and definitions that are inclusive, accurate and informed by the voices of girls and young women; and
- Gather insights on what works to support girls and young women.
Co-producing these outputs with girls and young women is essential, therefore, we needed to lay the groundwork for co-production during the session.
‘Using our own experiences to create a better environment for young girls’
That’s how one participant defined co-production. Girls and young women reflected that co-production was not just about this project alone, but about creating systemic change.
To set the foundations for future sessions, we co-developed a ‘ways of working’ framework, centered on trust, respect, support and warmth. We then discussed the importance of boundaries when undertaking co-production, prioritising safeguarding, confidentiality, and not pushing yourself to participate when not feeling able to. We were able to acknowledge that different people have different boundaries, and, referring back to the ways of working, that mutual respect for that is paramount. A key theme that emerged throughout the day was the importance of disagreeing with an idea, not a person.
‘Boundaries keep trust in the space’
At the same time, co-production was identified as a development opportunity for many of the girls and young women, who were excited to develop their confidence and communication skills, and potentially build up to working with girls and young women themselves. The mutual trust and friendship generated within the space was central to the group feeling able to open up so candidly:
‘I feel comfortable to share and express myself here’
Abianda’s Training and Development Lead, Alex Mckell, who co-facilitated the session, said:
"I felt the day went well. It was great to see the young women involved in the project and to see them already leading in the space through their opinions, thoughts, reflections and getting involved. I'm excited to see how that leadership grows and of course, what the work looks like in a year's time."
Teddy Harvey, Co-production Officer at Agenda Alliance, who co-facilitated the session, said:
"It was so exciting to bring this group of young women together. They brought so much energy and thoughtfulness to the day and it was a pleasure to reflect on co-production as a group. I can't wait to see what happens next and spend more time listening to the expertise that the co-production ambassadors bring to the project."
It was incredible to see how the girls and young women were already thinking beyond the project period and into how to create systemic change for all girls and young women to live a life free from violence. Moving forward, we’ll be delving deeper into how we can create solutions to support girls and young women in London, and how we can mainstream pockets of innovative practice demonstrated by the project partners.
Our next quarterly meet-up will take place in October – we can’t wait to share more updates then!