English This article uses findings from an evaluative review of the implementation of the Crime Reduction Programme (CRP) to highlight the key challenges faced when seeking to deliver evidence-based policy programmes. It considers ways of facilitating the translation of research into practical programmes and projects, and the difficulty of designing effective processes for evaluation, learning and change. The overall lesson is the importance of an approach to programme design and implementation that balances the many tensions inherent in evidence-based programmes, including fidelity to the evidence base versus innovation, short-term wins versus long-term learning, and evaluator distance and independence versus a more ‘hands-on’ and active evaluator role.