9/10
Young people say they have a better understanding of themselves and others
83
Organisations worked with in 2024
70%
We have worked with 70% of school/college communities in Cornwall
5
We work with five universities
Since 2016 we have prioritised Impact Evaluation
Just as young people co-design our programmes so we seek their involvement in our impact evaluation.
Generating transformational collective change means not focusing on perceived weaknesses or deficits but instead on young people’s strengths and assets, which often include a wide range of experiences.
We asses the collective change achieved by a group of young people, both through their immediate sense of distance travelled on our programmes and through their sustained ‘ripple effect’ of campaigning and cascading their learning to others.’
Our aims and ambitions are:
- enabling groups of young people to achieve lasting social bonds and a deeper sense of community.
- eliciting everyone’s voice and contribution to the shared agenda.
- strengthening relationships and reducing powerlessness.
- ensuring emotional and psychological safety for exploring deeper social and environmental issues.
- strengthening flexibility, resilience and wellbeing, reducing anxiety and depression.
- developing oracy and language for experience.
- promoting Respect for nature, Responsibility to nature, and Relationship with nature.
- achieving all the above in an energising spirit of playful exchange.
We gather young people’s views on the difference we make as well as the views of the adults who witness their journey.
Restorative Practice as Socio-emotional Education - learning vital skills for reducing inequalities and improving life chances in education, employment, health, family life and community.
Within our four overarching strategic aims, RJ Working promotes Restorative Practice to fulfil our mission of reducing inequalities. There is strong evidence that the most significant factor for future life chances in education and employment are social and emotional skills in childhood.
RJ Working recognises the close fit between Restorative Practice as a strengths-based model and the Outcomes Framework championed by the National Centre for Youthwork Impact. The Framework identifies six specific skill domains, all of which are developed through Restorative Practice: responsibility, empathy, problem-solving, initiative, teamwork, and emotion-management (documents to link here)
RJ Working is currently developing our wider Theory of Change through the relevance of these six domains for Inclusion and Connection through Restorative Practice. First though, because of the urgency, our first item below reports the development of our Theory of Change with specific reference to Youth-led Climate Action.
Explore our Impact Reports and Independent Evaluations below
RJW Restorative Practice Training snapshot of Impact for VCSE Sector in Cornwall
Evaluation of our impact - the difference we make - is very important to the team at RJW and we always gather feedback to reflect for our own learning. Its also important to take an overview and in March 2025 we reported to Cornwall VSF with this snapshot of our contribution to the VCSE sector's shared understandings.
YCAT Report
This Youth-led Climate Action Report is a milestone in the development of RJ Working, capturing the relevance of Restorative Practice for Youth-led Climate Action and offering it as a model for work with schools and wider communities.
We anticipate further updates as the story continues to unfold.
See YCAT's Linkedin and blog for the reactions of key commentators Peter Lefort, Cllr Martin Alvey, Prof Chris Caseldine and others.
Independent Evaluation of our Youth-led Community Conversations Programme in Camborne, Pool and Redruth
Consultancy Jola Associates have a strong understanding of what RJ Working is seeking to achieve and the capability of offering us a 'supportive challenge' through independent assessment as we seek to make strategic improvements to our inter-sectoral contribution
Annual Report 2023-24
The story of RJ Working's organisational development from August 2023 to July 2024.
Annual Report 2022-23
The story of RJ Working's organisational development from August 2022 to July 2023.
Annual Report 2021-22
The story of RJ Working's organisational development from July 2021 to July 2022
2020 Impact Report
Get the key stats from our work in 2020.
Learn about the projects we worked on, how we responded to Covid-19 challenges and feedback from those that experienced our work both online and in-person.
University of Exeter Independent Evaluation
The University of Exeter carried out an Independent Evaluation of our 2018-21 Restorative Leadership programme which was funded by the European Social Fund. Over 100 of Cornwall's school staff achieved ILM Level 3 qualifications in Restorative Leadership, awarded by project partner Cornwall College. Their 6 days of groupwork training & school projects reached thousands of Cornwall's young people.
2019 - Creating Change - Impact Report
Our 2019 Impact Report looks at our work through the lens of Ofsted recommendations, showing how Restorative practice supports schools of all ratings to progress a positive culture of care.
Ipsos MORI Independent Evaluation
The Home Office funded Ipsos MORI to undertake an independent evaluation into the outcomes of our Ripple Effect programme.
Accreditations, Associations and Funders
Our expertise has been formally recognised by the Restorative Justice Council with the award of their Registered Training Provider status. RJ Working is a proud member of the Restorative Justice Council (RJC).
The RJC promotes quality Restorative Practice for everyone in the UK.
