History

Find out about the development of Leap Confronting Conflict as an organisation.

Leap Confronting Conflict was established in 1987 by Alec Davison as a project of The Leaveners (Quaker Community Arts Charity), working with young unemployed adults to create forum theatre projects looking at the conflict in their lives and developing their skills to deal with it.

Pioneering early work led to the commission of a major piece of international research by Nic Fine and Fi Macbeth, leading to the formation of Leap’s key framework of ideas and the publication of our top-selling manual, Playing with Fire.

Leap expanded its brief from simply working directly with young people to training those who work with them. It soon became apparent that the work was meeting real needs, as the project attracted regional, national and international recognition. In 1992 the Department for Education and Employment (Youth Service Unit) provided funds to launch Leap as the only conflict resolution centre for the British Youth Service.

Leap started taking its work into schools and young offenders’ institutions. It ran projects with young homeless, and began training young peer mediators. Demand for all of Leap’s work was increasing year by year, and Trustees recognised the charity needed to change.

An independent charity is born

In 1999, Leap Confronting Conflict was launched as an independent registered charity and National Voluntary Youth Organisation registered with the Department for Education and Skills.

Always responsive to new needs and challenges, the newly constituted charity began its groundbreaking work with young people involved in gangs in 2000, and set up the country’s first national network of young mediators (the YMN). Leap’s projects have twice been short-listed for Philip Lawrence Awards and reached the finals of the Whitbread Young Partners Awards. The organisation received Investors in People status in 2000, 2004 and 2008.

In 2004, New Philanthropy Capital recommended Leap to funders as one of 45 organisations across Britain whose interventions have a high chance of producing positive outcomes that are well targeted to significant local need (_Young People in Divided Communities, New Philanthropy Capital_). Also in 2004, Ofsted recommended that more young people and organisations should have access to Leap’s programmes.

In 2006, Leap published its groundbreaking manual, Working with Gangs and Young People. The Institute for Public Policy Research recommended Leap’s work in educational institutions in response to the difficulties in the socialisation of young people today. Leap launched the £1.3 million PeerLink project to promote and support peer mediation.

In 2007, Leap held the first ever National PeerLink Awards, moved to new, larger premises in London’s Finsbury Park, and recruited its first regional staff in Yorkshire and the South West.

In 2008, Leap was awarded YSDF Pathfinder funding by the Department for Children, Schools and Families and opened its first regional centre in Leeds.

It has now entered into a partnership with Leeds Metropolitan University to create validated qualifications in youth and conflict to be delivered by the newly formed Leap Academy of Youth and Conflict.

The next chapter in Leap’s development has begun.

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