£1.4m of support as part of the Mayor’s comprehensive Knife Crime Strategy
34 projects announced today, in addition to nine which received funding in March
Sadiq Khan more committed than ever to do everything possible to tackle violence on London’s streets
Additional projects funded as a result of the new Mayor’s Young Londoners Fund
Community projects helping to prevent and protect young people from knife crime have today received a share of £1.15m from the Mayor as part of his commitment to do everything in his power to tackle violent crime and youth violence in London.
The 34 successful groups announced today include a martial arts club in Croydon, boxing clubs in Lambeth and Southwark, and mentoring workshops in Newham, Waltham Forest, Merton, Haringey and Hammersmith & Fulham.
A total of £1.4m has now been allocated to 43 anti-knife crime projects across the capital in the last few weeks, after nine schemes were awarded a share of £250,000 in March. Schemes across 19 boroughs will benefit from the new funding, including the ten boroughs most affected by knife crime.
The funding is part of Sadiq’s comprehensive Knife Crime Strategy published in June 2017, which included a £250,000 Knife Crime Community Seed Fund. The mayor has provided an additional £1.15m of new money for these projects through his new Young Londoners Fund, taking the total to £1.4m, after consultation with young people revealed that they want to be engaged with by people from their communities who they know and trust, and who have experienced some of the same issues and challenges around knife crime.
The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, said: “As Mayor, I have made it a priority not only to be tough on knife crime in London, but tough on the causes of knife crime too. The tragic deaths in recent days and months have highlighted once again how urgently this must be tackled.
“The Government is letting our young people down and failing in its basic duty to keep people safe. At City Hall, we’re doing all we can to compensate for the failure of ministers and we are stepping up to provide unprecedented additional funds to the Met police, as well as driving forward a full and comprehensive Knife Crime Strategy and my £45m Young Londoners Fund, which will help many young people to thrive, prosper and make the right choices to avoid being sucked into a life of crime.
“I refuse to accept that nothing can be done to stem the appalling rise of violent crime we are seeing across the country. The community and grass-roots projects receiving funding today, alongside the projects that were funded earlier in the spring, will help root out violence within our communities and give more young Londoners the skills, support and aspirations they need to turn away from crime and fulfil their potential.”
The Mayor’s Office for Policing And Crime (MOPAC) will work with the successful bidders to provide mentoring and support, and to assist in building relationships with Safer Neighbourhood Boards. The Knife Crime Community Seed Fund is being managed by London Community Foundation.
The Crib is a pan-London organisation receiving £35,000 to provide people who have been bereaved or affected by knife crime with specialist support, including befriending and advocacy across London. Janette Collins, founder of The Crib, said: “We are now able to spread good practice in the fight against knife crime. It is a fantastic leap forward for our families and organisation.”
The Godwin Lawson Foundation goes to schools in Enfield and Haringey to deliver presentations around the dangers of knife crime. They will receive £47,528 which will help them reach 900 young people. Yvonne Lawson, founder and CEO of the Godwin Lawson Foundation, said: “We are extremely delighted to receive this funding, it will go a long way with our early intervention and prevention programs.”
ML Community Enterprise will receive £50,000 to deliver one-to-one support, group support and counselling to 20 young people engaged in, or at risk of engaging in, knife crime and support for their families in Brixton. Ira Campbell, ML Community Enterprise Ltd, said: “The project will feature readily available victim key-workers, emotional and practical support, and one-to-one specialist therapeutic counselling including innovative arts and sports therapies. We have developed an innovative model of key-working and counselling for young victims of violence, working with the consequences of the victimhood experience and the associated major psychological trauma, such as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.
“The primary outcome of the project is to improve young victims physical, mental and emotional health. The project aims to achieve the outcomes of supporting the reduction of violence, crime and anti-social behaviour. We aim to achieve an increase in the confidence and self-esteem of young victims, so they may identify and pursue positive opportunities.”
The full list of projects receiving the additional £1.15m of funding today are:
Prospex (Islington) - £21,061 to provide detached street outreach for up to 150 young people in Islington for 12 months.
Urban Community Projects (Camden) - £8,923 to deliver a project with at-risk young people in Camden Highgate Ward to create a knife and gang crime awareness event for the whole community, reaching 144 people.
Rising Stars Support (Croydon) - £14,622 to deliver 48 mixed martial arts sessions to 120 young people in Croydon.
Academy Achievers (Stratford and West Ham) - £35,855 to deliver anti-knife crime early intervention and outreach for up to 40 young people aged 11 to 18 in Stratford and West Ham.
ML Community Enterprise (Brixton) - £50,000 to deliver one-to-one support, group support and counselling to 20 young males and females engaged in or at risk of engaging in knife crime and support for their families in Brixton, Lambeth.
Fight for Change Foundation (Lambeth and Southwark) - £35,090 to deliver weekly boxing sessions and knife crime awareness and employability workshops for 30 at risk young people from Lambeth and Southwark over six months.
BLBC (Brent) - £10,000 to organise daily term-time community volunteer school patrols in Harlesden and organise groups of parents on four estates in Brent to address the issues of knife crime with their children and young people reaching a total of 100 people.
Trinity African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church (Haringey) - £44,456 to provide 48 weeks of weekly information and support for up to 360 children transitioning from primary to secondary school and their parents in Tottenham, Haringey.
Ocean Youth Connexions (Tower Hamlets) - £50,000 to deliver two six-month outreach projects and associated workshops over one year to 60 young people engaged in or at risk of engagement in knife related crime on and around the Ocean Estate in Tower Hamlets.
Key4Life CIO (Southwark, Haringey, Lambeth, Brent, Hammersmith & Fulham) - £32,688 to deliver a one-year partnership project preventing youth offending and youth violence by empowering 50 ex-offenders or those at risk of offending to secure employment and train as mentors in Brixton and other London locations.
The Show Crib (pan-London) - £35,000 to employ an outreach and engagement officer to provide 100 people who have been bereaved or affected by knife crime with specialist support including befriending and advocacy across London.
South London Counselling & Support Services (Lewisham and Greenwich) - £20,321 to provide one-to-one counselling and group workshops for up to 100 young victims of crime in Lewisham and Greenwich.
Cassandra Learning Centre (Croydon, Lambeth and Southwark) - £28,417 to deliver one-to-one counselling and group sessions to 100 perpetrators of knife crime from Croydon, Lambeth and Southwark.
Southside Young Leaders’ Academy (Southwark and Lambeth) - £28,600 to work with 40 young black males (aged 8-16) who are at-risk of becoming involved in knife crime and gang activity, via small group workshops and working with parents and local services in Lambeth and Southwark.
Good Shepherd Voluntary Organisation (Newham) - £59,123 to provide peer mentoring to 40 at-risk young people and 10 parenting workshops in Newham.
Chaos Theory (Waltham Forest) - £46,477 to deliver conflict mediation and mentoring in Waltham Forest reaching 45 predominantly young black and Asian men aged between 18 to 25 years.
The St Matthew""s Project (Lambeth) - £44,242 to deliver a football and mental health-focussed project for 60 children (aged 5-12) in Lambeth over 45 weeks.
GOAL Gospel Oak Action Link (Camden) - £49,200 to deliver two 10-week programmes of workshops for 30 at-risk young people in Camden, followed by a residential programme with follow up support in order to divert them away from gangs and into education and/or employment.
Unique Talent CIC (Merton) - £22,000 to deliver a series of workshops and peer mentoring to young BAME men aged 24 and under engaged in or at risk of knife crime, along with training sessions to teachers, professionals and parents to raise awareness of risks in Merton.
Real Impact Social Empowerment Projects (Haringey) - £10,140 to deliver a community safety project predominantly aimed at Haringey’s young Somali community, including mentoring, workshops, awareness raising and a one-day summit reaching 300 people overall, in order to reduce knife crime in Wood Green and surrounding areas.
Communities Against Violence (Haringey) - £38,840 to deliver a two-pronged approach supporting victims and perpetrators of knife crime in Haringey via a phone line and outreach service reaching 200 people, and a family-style mentoring programme for four at risk young people.
Ambition, Aspire, Achieve (Newham) - £47,531 to deliver a strategic, grass-roots early intervention community-based project in Newham with the aim of facilitating routes out of gangs for 12 young people and preventing 20 young people from becoming involved in a gang.
Making Communities Work & Grow (Kensington & Chelsea) - £26,625 to deliver outreach for 24 weeks followed by group workshops, one-to-one sessions and general youth centre provision for 40 young BAME men in Kensington and Chelsea.
The VIP - Violence Intervention Project (Hammersmith & Fulham) - £40,230 to deliver a 12-month targeted mentoring programme in Hammersmith and Fulham for 20-25 high-status or high-risk young people aged 15 to 25 years old in the community and in custody.
The 4Front Project Ltd (Barnet) - £46,042 to deliver a youth led intervention project for 75 young people involved in and affected by serious youth violence in Barnet over one year.
StreetDoctors (Croydon & Hackney) - £44,100 to deliver a partnership project to educate up to 300 young people with knowledge of dangers and risks of knife crime, first aid training and lifesaving skills in Croydon and Hackney.
Godwin Lawson Foundation (Enfield and Haringey) - £47,528 to deliver in-school presentations around dangers of knife crime to 900 young people followed by targeted workshops and support for 40 young people across four schools in Enfield and Haringey.
Damilola Taylor Trust (Southwark) - £39,437 to deliver an intense mentoring and development programme to 45 young people, mainly from BAME backgrounds in Southwark over 12 months.
The Greenleaf Trust Ltd (Waltham Forest) - £49,492 to deliver ongoing intervention and prevention initiatives in Waltham Forest and Newham boroughs through outreach work and one-to-one mentoring, reaching 230 young people. The outreach will include a solicitor who will work with young people on understanding the law.
You and Me counselling (Havering) - £14,600 to deliver a project of awareness raising and school talks on the dangers of knife crime followed by family counselling for 12 at-risk young people and their families in Havering, benefitting 140 people overall.
SAAFI Somali Advice and Forum of Information (Brent) - £11,790 to fund 20 group sessions of motivational and mentoring content for 30 Somali young people in Harlesden aged 11-17.
Basic Sports & Fitness (BSF) CIC (Newham) - £19,090 to deliver a 12-month programme of sports and boxing and workshops to 40 at-risk young people in Newham as a diversionary activity away from gangs and violent crime.
The Crib (Tower Hamlets, Hackney and Islington) - £47,000 to train young people and parents to deliver workshops in educational, youth and community settings to 1,000 beneficiaries across Tower Hamlets, Hackney and Islington.
Streets of Growth (Tower Hamlets) - £34,646 to outreach to 50 high-risk young people on three estates in Tower Hamlets and deliver coaching support, life skills workshops and anti-social behaviour awareness workshops.