New national programme championed empathy, trust, relationships and lived experience to transform support for young people
London: 15 June 2026 – Peer Power Youth celebrated its 10th anniversary with the launch of an ambitious training and coaching programme designed to help organisations transform their ways of working with young people.
The charity’s new Empathy-Led Model (ELM) was officially launched at a special anniversary event at the House of Lords, bringing together policymakers, commissioners, funders, senior sector leaders, practitioners and young people with lived experience to explore the future of youth support, mental health, justice and care systems.
Founded in 2015 by Anne-Marie Douglas, rooted in her lived experience of trauma and exclusion and informed by her work and research on empathy, Peer Power Youth is a youth leadership charity that works alongside young people aged 10–25 who have experienced trauma, including childhood abuse, neglect, exclusion, injustice and violence.
Anne-Marie Douglas, CEO and Founder of Peer Power Youth, said: “Peer Power Youth was built on the belief that empathy, trusted relationships and lived experience should sit at the heart of how services support children and young people.
“Over the last ten years we’ve worked alongside incredible young people, practitioners and partners to challenge systems that often weren’t designed with humanity, or the experience of trauma in mind.
“The launch of the Empathy-Led Model was about taking everything we’ve learned and supporting organisations to build cultures where empathy, lived experience and shared power shape how they work – creating environments where young people felt heard, understood and able to shape decisions, and where trusting relationships could grow.
“At a time when services were under pressure, we believe empathy, care and love were vital and essential to strengthening youth voices and creating systems that truly work. Now was the time to act, partner with us to drive change through empathy, love and youth voice.”
Over the past decade, the organisation has worked directly with 1,200 young people and 8,000 professionals, helping shape policy and practice across youth justice, health, social care, SEND and mental health services.
At a time when one in eight young people were not in education, employment or training (according to the latest ONS figures), 93% of Peer Power Youth participants aged 18–25 moved into education, employment or training within six months.
Peer Power Youth’s partners have included NHS England, the Ministry of Justice Youth Custody Service, the Youth Justice Board, HM Inspectorate of Probation, Violence Reduction Partnerships, MOPAC and the UK Trauma Council.
The anniversary event, took place on Monday 15 June in the River Room at the House of Lords, celebrated ten years of impact while showcasing learning from the frontline of youth justice and support services.
It came at a pivotal moment for the sector. The Government’s recent white paper, Cutting Crime, Changing Lives, had set out an ambitious agenda for reform across youth justice and early intervention – and Peer Power Youth believed this was a critical opportunity to help shape how that ambition was translated into practice for young people and the professionals who support them.
Guests included senior policymakers, commissioners, funders, charity and youth sector leaders, alongside young people whose experiences had shaped Peer Power Youth’s work over the past decade.
The event programme featured speeches, panel discussions and facilitated networking from young people and professionals. Discussions covered themes of early intervention and system reform. The Rt Hon. the Baroness Prashar CBE and Dame Lorna Boreland-Kelly were among those supporting the event.
Central to the event was the launch of Peer Power Youth’s Empathy-Led Model (ELM), a training and coaching programme, designed and developed with young people through a decade of frontline and system-change work.
Designed for organisations across youth justice, health, education, social care and the voluntary sector, ELM helped leaders and practitioners embed empathy-led practice, ethical lived experience leadership and meaningful youth participation into their culture, relationships and decision-making.
Peer Power Youth said the model had been developed in response to increasing pressure across children’s services, youth justice, mental health and SEND systems, where young people often experienced barriers accessing support because of system issues including young people not being heard, inequalities, and a lack of empathy and trusted support.
The charity believed lasting change happened when services were shaped with young people, not simply designed for them.
Peer Power Youth said its work had consistently shown that early intervention, trusted relationships and meaningful youth involvement improved outcomes for young people while helping services become more effective, connected and sustainable.
ENDS
Media Contacts
For media enquiries, interviews or event attendance:
Syed Naqi Akhter
media@es-pr.co.uk
07741 161 083
Notes to Editors
About Peer Power Youth
Peer Power Youth exists to make support services better for children and young people who’ve experienced trauma, including childhood abuse, neglect, exclusion, injustice and violence.
Through empathy and trusted relationships, we support young people to see their strengths, build their confidence and leadership skills.
Peer Power Youth’s Empathy-Led Model (ELM) provides training, coaching and action learning programmes designed to help organisations strengthen trauma-informed, relational and youth-led practice.
Website: www.peerpower.org.uk
Event Details:
Date: Monday, 15th June 2026
Venue: House of Lords, River Room, Parliament Sq, London, SW1A 0PW
12:00–14:00 –A session focused on sharing our 10 years of impact and introducing and explaining the Empathy-Led Model to key stakeholders.
18:00–20:00 – A session brought the Empathy-Led Model programme to life through discussion, participation and celebration with partners and the community.
Featured Guests Included:
Anne Marie Douglas – CEO, Peer Power Youth
Ria Hebden – Television Presenter, ITV
The Rt Hon. the Baroness Prashar CBE – Peer Power Youth Patron
Dame Lorna Boreland-Kelly – Chair Of Trustees, Peer Power Youth