Exclusion to Empowerment: Tackling Youth Violence
BCBN committed to support the efforts of three leading youth charities, Khulisa, Redthread and StreetDoctors, to address the full cycle of violence and crime. The aim was to support young people at three high-risk transition points in their lives and provide holistic support to divert them towards a positive future.
From Jan 2019-2020, the three organisations have managed to reach 6233 young people in London and supported them to lead safe, happy and fulfilling lives, free from violence and crime, creating positive dialogue and learning opportunities.
Khulisa delivered 15 programmes and supported 120 at risk, disengaged and vulnerable young people in London, to better understand themselves and their needs, gain key skills, insight and understanding that will support them as they move in to further education, employment and stable lives. BCBN’s support meant that Khulisa could provide Trauma Training to 475 teachers and youth sector professionals and offered taster and awareness sessions to 405 young people across London.
Redthread is a dynamic youth work charity empowering disadvantaged young people. Redthread’s award winning Youth Violence Intervention Programme has been transforming lives for 15 years, inspiring positive change in “hard-to-reach” young people at risk of involvement in violence, especially the high-risk young people other services and organisations struggle to engage. Since BCBN’s funding, RedThread received 1612 referrals and engaged in intensive work with 579 young people who were victims of violence.
StreetDoctors offers lifesaving skills to young people at risk of youth violence across the UK. StreetDoctors young healthcare volunteers teach emergency first aid to 11-25 year olds at a range of interactive training sessions. These are delivered in partnership with criminal justice services, schools, pupil referral units, sports and community groups.
BCBN’s funding meant that StreetDoctors could teach 5,174 young people across the UK, about what to do in an emergency situation when someone is either bleeding or unconscious.
Testimonies from young people supported by the programme:
“You helped me visualise things differently. I was going to go back to selling drugs, but I’m not even thinking about that any more” – Young person supported by our Redthread team at St George’s Hospital
“This group opens up your mind and makes you think about scenarios in different ways. I enjoyed everyone saying different ways of managing things like triggers and how people react to things and seeing how other people manage things opened my mind to not always seeing things from my perspective. It definitely made me look at things and react to things differently. I’ve been getting less drawn in and reactive and I’ve been over-thinking less. I haven’t really been getting frustrated or pissed off – if you react you’re giving them all the power. If you don’t react you get to keep your power. It’s draining my energy less. I’ve been feeling more free.” – Jamie, 17 years old, participant of Khulisa’s ‘Face It’ Programme
