WeMatter

A pilot randomised controlled trial

Domestic abuse
November 20, 2025

WeMatter

Highlights

Children and young people who are victims of domestic abuse are not always able to access the support they need to recover from their experiences of domestic abuse, particularly when they are not assessed to be at high risk of harm
WeMatter is a digital group programme that aims to meet this demand and support children and young people who have experienced domestic abuse but are not currently experiencing harm or living with the perpetrator. WeMatter helps participants process their experiences in a safe, peer supported environment using cognitive behavioural therapy techniques
This pilot found encouraging preliminary evidence of positive impact for those that took part in WeMatter, particularly on children’s mental wellbeing, and showed that it is possible to conduct a robust, randomised evaluation of services like WeMatter
As expected for this pilot, the relatively small sample size and some data quality issues with the endline data means that we cannot conclude that changes seen in the outcomes were caused by the programme. However, a larger trial, with some delivery and evaluation design modifications to support successful implementation, will help us determine the effect of the programme.

Full report

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Summary report

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Summary

Access to timely and effective support is important for addressing the impact of domestic abuse on children and young people. However, access varies due to high demand and variability of existing services across the country-particularly for those not considered high risk of harm.

WeMatter is a digital, group-based support service developed to address this gap for children and young people aged 8–17 years old who have been affected by domestic abuse but are not currently experiencing harm or living with the perpetrator. It consists of eight weekly one-hour group sessions, delivered by two specialist WeMatter facilitators, with two one-to-one sessions.

WeMatter is delivered by Victim Support and uses the Domestic Abuse Recovery Toolkit developed by Rock Pool, the UK’s leading trauma-informed recovery service for those who have experienced or witnessed domestic abuse.

With funding from the Cabinet Office’s Evaluation Accelerator Fund, Foundations commissioned Verian to conduct the first independent pilot randomised controlled trial of WeMatter.

Aims

The main aims of the evaluation were:

To understand how WeMatter was delivered, how it was experienced by children and families, and whether it achieved its intended outcomes in a pilot context
To understand whether a full-scale randomised controlled trial of WeMatter would be viable, and provide recommendations for future evaluation design.

Method

A waitlist randomised controlled trial design was used for the study. Between April 2024 and June 2025, 312 children and young people took part in the pilot trial. Half joined WeMatter groups straight away; the other half were placed on a waiting list for a maximum of 14 weeks before joining their WeMatter group.

Verian conducted a pilot impact evaluation, and implementation and process evaluation, and an analysis of service costs.

The impact evaluation measured the effect of WeMatter on participants’ mental wellbeing (using the Stirling Children’s Wellbeing Scale) and older participants’ perceptions of social support (using the Social Support Scale).

The implementation and process evaluation involved interviews and focus groups with children, parents/carers, and staff to understand their experiences of WeMatter, how the service was delivered, and perceived impacts.

Key Findings

The pilot showed that WeMatter is promising and worth testing at scale. It demonstrated that a full trial is feasible with adjustments, and early findings suggest that the programme has the potential to improve children’s mental wellbeing.

Children’s mental wellbeing

Children and young people who took part in WeMatter reported a more positive emotional state and outlook compared to those on the waitlist who had not yet received the service. These outcomes align with the programme’s goals and suggest that its core mechanisms (peer support, trusted facilitators, and engaging content) worked well.

The difference we found was moderate in size, suggesting WeMatter may have a positive impact on mental wellbeing. However, because the study involved a small number of participants and some data was missing at follow-up, this result should be seen as an early indication of impact, rather than a precise estimate. To draw confident conclusions about WeMatter’s impact on children’s wellbeing, we need to run a larger trial with some design improvements.

Programme delivery

WeMatter was delivered largely as planned, with sessions covering the intended content and activities. Challenges included staff turnover, digital access issues for some families, and difficulties running groups during school holidays, which meant some groups were smaller than intended or had different facilitators. More children and young people dropped out than we would have liked, which reduces the quality of follow-up data and the overall sample size.

Experiences of participating in the programme

Participants, parents, and facilitators consistently reported positive changes after participating in WeMatter. This included reports of improved understanding of healthy relationships, ability to manage emotions, stronger feelings of support, and overall improvements in wellbeing.

Cost of programme delivery

The average cost per participant randomised during the trial period was £1,054.73 (excluding the costs associated with the evaluation). The complexity of the trial, staff turnover (possibly linked to trial requirements), and the lower number of referrals especially in the first months of the trial meant that the cost per CYP randomised into the trial was higher than Victim Support’s original estimate of £500 per participant

Recommendations

The report outlines several recommendations that could help ensure a larger randomised trial of WeMatter can be delivered successfully:

Start recruitment earlier and allow time to build referral networks before the trial begins.
Simplify randomisation to provide WeMatter staff more flexibility when forming groups
Hire more staff to support consistent delivery and reduce the burden on facilitators including a dedicated trial manager to oversee data quality
Use independent researchers to collect outcome data, and consider offering small incentives (like vouchers) to encourage children to complete surveys
Reintroduce catch-up sessions for children who miss group meetings, while managing resource demands.