LNK Engage

Aim

LNK help to close that gap of social and economic deprivation by advancing the equality of opportunities for young people.

Lives Not Knives is a youth led charity, for young people in London, working to prevent knife crime, serious youth violence and anti-social behaviour. As well as, engaging & educating young people, who have been affected by socio-economic factors and supporting them to improve their future prospects.

AIMS & OBJECTIVES

Engage – Successfully engage with as many young people as possible through; school roadshows, workshops and referrals from schools. 

Educate – Educating 9-16 year olds in schools, on the effects of knife crime, to discourage and prevent them from entering into anti-social activities, particularly around knife crime and serious youth violence, through workshops, roadshows, 1:1 mentoring and group mentoring.  

Empower – Empowering young people & the wider community, towards a more positive future by delivering training, offering 1:1 mentoring, group mentoring, healthy relationships advice and support, preparation for work and supporting successful engagement into education, training or employment for those 25 and under. 

LNK work with young people living in poverty with a household income less than 60% of median income. Following the pandemic, it is proven that household income has fallen.  Therefore, putting increasing pressure on single parents, households where parents are in receipt of free school meals, people from ethnic minority backgrounds and people living in economically deprived areas.   This demographic of households are expected to experience greater deprivation, whilst experiencing unequal access to public services which in turn will compound health, social and economic equality.

LNK help to close that gap of social and economic deprivation by advancing the equality of opportunities for young people. Supporting children and young people between the ages of 9-18 (70% at high risk of school exclusion) to stay in education, support their pathways to higher education, expose them to better life experiences and offer them and their parents/guardians local access to public services and signposting for professional services.

From our 15 years of experience working with vulnerable young people by referral directly through our partnership in Croydon Schools (LNK educate) or self-referrals from our out of school provision (LNK engage) Our beneficiaries have the following characteristics –

• 80% living in poverty, eligible for free-school meals.

• 70% looked-after children

• 80% have dyslexia, special educational needs or social, emotional and mental health problems

• 70% engaged in or at-risk of criminal activity or exploitation by gangs.

• 80% not engaged in any positive after school-activities

• 80% Black Caribbean/Mixed White or Black Caribbean boys and 30% boys and girls.

Poverty, deprivation, poor mental and physical health, low school attainment, learning disabilities, trauma, self-harm, living as a carer and living in areas with high youth criminality. Some of these factors are a direct causal effect of youth crime. The young people we work with have either been affected or at risk of being affected by youth crime. They have parents who are involved in criminality, mental health issues or live in a neighbourhood in the Fairfield Ward and several wards in the North of the Borough of Croydon that are unsafe for them to socialise. Gang grooming is something that they are aware of and knife crime is a commonality in the area of which they live.

These young people lack a reliable and responsible adult figure, they feel neglected and excluded from society and need a safe place, with a trusted, reliable and consistent support network.

They mostly need,

-A healthy meal

-Diversionary activities in a safe environment away from youth crime.

-Enrichment activities, offering new experiences

-Support with applications for self-referrals to local specialised services - e.g. mental health

-Support with issues around housing, schooling, higher education and local apprenticeships.

LNK engage provide all of the above, which will allow 300 young people faced with multiple socioeconomic circumstances to experience new enrichment activities e.g. museum and exhibition visits. Support for self-referrals to local services, working closely with specialised services within our local community, such as Croydon Drop In.  We also work closely with our local authority, to complement their skeletal service, working closely with our newly elected Mayor and Councillor Ola Kolade Cabinet Member for Community Safety to support these young people with issue, such as housing, schooling and local work opportunities.

LNK engage is run within the LNK unit, based and embedded within the community in Centrale Shopping Centre.  We recognise that the lack of children’s services within our borough is very tight because of our local authority being bankrupt, we would like to help fill that gap over the next 5 years.  Offering support and information and guidance, in out of school hours, both after school two to three times a week and in the school holidays, where we run a weekly time table and young people and parents register in advance in order for us to risk assess all the needs of the young people in attendance.

We have recently had round table events with the young people that attend the half term and Summer holiday sessions asking them which issues they think are most important to tackle at the present moment.

-Youth crime

-Low school attendance

-Lack of awareness for future goals

-Lack of awareness of local services/self-referral to special services

-Awareness of healthy living

Were the main issues that they said affected their lives.

We further had a meeting with our newly elected Mayor of Croydon and Councillor Ola Kolade Cabinet Member for Community Safety to express the concerns of the young people that attend LNK engage.

Finally, we spoke to 10 local schools where we deliver an intervention programme - We spoke to both the teachers and the 180 students that we mentor on a 121 basis.  Who all concluded that the issues that were voiced by the young people with lived experience of youth crime were high priorities in Croydon and that they needed to be approached in a more joined up, cohesive approach, working closely with local young people with lived experience.

It was concluded that partnerships need to be made stronger and the continuation of LNK engage would help to enable the young people's voices to be heard.

Last year we worked with ten schools, delivering and training teachers resources to 500 teachers, who in turn delivered the resources to 8000 students, following this we worked with 170 young people referred from the local schools for 121 mentoring, between the ages of 8-14.  We spoke to the young people in the schools, their parents/carers and teachers, who have all asked LNK to help deliver an out of school programme.  

The young people we work with have said that they are finding it hard to access any social services during school holidays and in after school hours.  Teachers and parents have asked us to be able to offer the consistent support in a safe environment for young people who rely on free school meals and lack support in their home environment. Following Covid we have seen an increase in domestic abuse and mental health.  Our mentors have had sufficient training to recognise this need and have been working with specialised services to help young people to self-refer to these specialised services, which are recognised and work in partnership with our local authority.  

By offering this service we are lifting young people out of the poverty gap, enabling and encouraging them to find a route to their goal and helping them to reach it by encouraging them to explore various career options and building their confidence to achieve it.  Supporting them to stay in education by teaching them coping mechanisms and helping them with the transition into higher education. Exposing them to new experiences and surroundings in order to feed aspirations and build confidence. Finally, educating them on a healthy lifestyle, including a healthy diet and exercise to expand life expectancy. The  last 3 years LNK delivered an intervention in 20 schools with 349
 children aged 8-14, deemed at high risk, leading to Mental Health issues. Furthermore, we saw an increased number of young people who were suffering from lack of food in the household, which lead to them stealing food from supermarkets and their local shops.  In order to avoid these young people from going down the path of criminal behaviour we have been offering these young people on Free School Meals, a warm meal in the school holidays and warning them about the long term effects of a criminal record on their life in later years.

Please find below some feedback from the young people that our youth workers have worked with over the last year.

What the mentee said –

My mentor is a good listener and has –

Helped me to express myself                                                                                        97%

Helped me to enjoy school more                                                                                 78%

Helped me to engage with school more                                                                    80% 

Makes me feel more supported                                                                                    89%

Helped me to think more about my actions                                                            90%

Given me useful advice and guidance                                                                       95%

Helped me to understand my purpose and how I can achieve my goals    96%

Empowered me and made me feel like I can succeed in the future                91%

Helped me to understand other people better                                                        77%

Helped me to better understand and control my emotions                               87%

LNK further offer out of school activities for children on Free School Meals for continual support.

LNK engage will reach 300 young people a year, living in poverty in Croydon Fairfield Ward and North of the Borough and will have measures in place to measure and evaluate the distance travelled by each young person that attends the programme.

This project successfully funded on 2nd January 2023