At Local Village Network (LVN) we believe that it takes a village to raise a child. In helping professionals volunteer an hour of their time, we bring components of the village community together to make a positive change to the lives of vulnerable young people. 

Our Story

LVN is a grassroots charity set up in 2014. Founder Rachael Box and a team of volunteers worked with over 300 young people to create a series of programmes that put young people in control of their future.

Developing the LVN Model: Evidence Based Design

We previously worked with behaviour scientists at Ogilvy Change and educationalists to create programmes that maximise the benefit of one hour of time – we call this The Power of an Hour.

Although one hour may not seem much, our theory of change states that an average of 10 interactions between a young person and professional adults outside their usual network is enough to change their life path. 

As a result of our extensive work with tutors and students at City & Islington college (C&I), feedback and collaboration from young people has informed the development of our programmes and services. C&I students have collaborated with LVN on many projects including testing, creating an advertisement of the app and putting on community events. Read the full article here. 

“Countering network poverty as a precursor to gang membership: bridging and social capital through temporary migration research and practice” – LVN CEO Rachael Box & Robert F. Hesketh, Lecturer in Criminal Justice at Liverpool John Moores University. Paper available here.