Two Magpies Fund attends a two-day policy retreat for tackling Violence Against Women and Girls
On 23 April 2026, Two Magpies’ CEO, Kirsten Westlake, attended a two-day summit at Downing College, Cambridge, hosted by the Downing Battcock Institute in partnership with UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) and the Cabinet Office Evaluation Task Force.
Kirsten shared the following:
“The room was full of policymakers, academics, practitioners, funders, healthcare professionals and police, united not just by expertise but by a shared urgency to strengthen the UK's response to violence against women and girls (VAWG). Over the two days, we took stock of what the existing evidence tells us, explored what is working in other countries and why, examined case studies of programmes that have already been rigorously evaluated, and worked together to identify potential priorities for a national ‘What Works Programme’.
A few things struck me:
Cross-sector collaboration matters so much and there’s real potential in bringing together the rigour of academia, the reach of government, the frontline wisdom and experience of the third sector, and the agility of philanthropy.
The scale and complexity of the challenge is vast: from prevention and early intervention, to holding perpetrators to account, from learning what makes some people cause harm and changing their behaviour, to supporting survivors. And all this means different things to different people.
We don't all use the same terminology or have the same expectations/ priorities in our day jobs, but we are all pulling in the same direction.
The government's commitment to a ‘What Works Programme’ for VAWG, backed by the Evaluation Task Force, is a genuine opportunity. A chance to move beyond the current patchwork of provision and to find, fund, evaluate and scale the interventions that actually work, before another generation bears the cost of us not knowing.
It was energising, thought-provoking and, ultimately, optimistic. I hope this is the beginning of something significant.”
For more information about this cross-sector retreat, click link:
(Originally posted on LinkedIn)