Evaluation Partners for the West Midlands Violence Reduction Unit The WM Violence Reduction Unit is funded by the Home Office and was set up in 2019. The Violence Reduction Unit is a partnership organisation that aims to reduce violent crime across the West Midlands region. It benefits from the expertise of partners in public health, criminal justice, sports, education, and policing in order to take on a collaborative approach towards reducing violence. The 5 main strands to the VRU’s work include, supporting: Communities and professionals to work together Interventions to prevent violence The use of evidence to inform decisions Leaders to connect around a shared long-term ambition Production of guidance, advice and toolkits The Evaluation Partnership worked closely with the WMVRU in its first full year of operation (2020-2021) to evaluate both the approach adopted by the VRU and specific interventions funded by the WMVRU which were aimed at reducing serious violence. The 2021 reports are now live on the WMVRU website: https://westmidlands-vrp.org/evidence-evaluation/