Non-formal youth development and its impact on young people’s lives: case study – Brathay Trust, UK

Brathay Trust is a youth development charity in the UK, which has been working with young people for over 65 years. Brathay works in both community and residential youth development settings. This paper presents the current political context in which Brathay is situated in the UK. It then details how the Trust has developed a robust theoretical framework to underpin a non-formal youth development approach. This involved a process of practice based evidence to understand and underpin the delivery of Brathay’s work, as well as the challenge of demonstrating impact using evidence based practice. The tensions between practice based evidence and evidence based practice are problematised and implications discussed.