Children and youth

Leap Confronting Conflict  

Supporting young mentors and mediators

Leap Confronting Conflict supports and trains over 1,300 young volunteers who mentor fellow young people involved in gangs and violence through its PeerLink project.

It started in 1991, when Leap noticed a small number of young people were involved in conflict resolution in pockets across the country, but found they were largely isolated and that the work was poorly supported locally.

In 2002 Leap formed the Young Mediators Network which quickly grew to 300 members and led to the development of the larger PeerLink project.

The project tries to be youth-led as much as possible and delivers ongoing support and training to young volunteers in schools and communities.

Now there is a network of over 1,300 young people dedicated to preventing or reducing conflict in the lives of their peers.

A steering group of around 30 to 40 young people across three regions meet regularly to review the project and plan events around the country. In 2008 they gave over 4,000 hours of voluntary time.

They help deliver and plan large-scale national events such as conferences, residential events and the PeerLink awards, a recognition of the mentors.

PeerLink also provides training to young people and provide learning resources to schools and youth centres.

Myrtle Finley, a PeerLink award winner from Lesbian and Gay Youth Manchester, says: “I was just so pleased to see our very challenging but rewarding work being recognized and to know LGBT Youth’s contributions to society were being celebrated in their own right.”

Mrs Jennifer Rogers
Chief executive
Wells House (Unit 7)
5-7 Wells Terrace
Finsbury Park
London N4 3JU
020 7561 3700
www.leapconfrontingconflict.org.uk
Reg no: 10272376

Lighthouse Group

Re-integrating excluded pupils

A scheme that started as a local charity to support young people at risk of exclusion from schools in West Yorkshire has been rapidly expanded around the UK by the Lighthouse Group over the last five years.

The charity decided to roll out its local model for excluded pupils nationally in 2004, after a number of schools, politicians, third sector partners and parents suggested the scheme should be expanded.

In response, the Lighthouse Group planned a network of local centres in key cites, which would work in partnership to engage with excluded young people on education and re-integration into mainstream school.

Tim Morfin, Lighthouse Group chief executive, restructured the organisation to create a national charity mindset and Mike Royal, the national director, led a team who set up links, found partnerships and worked on replicating the model at a local level.

Since 2007, five Lighthouse Group centres have been built in major cities, with a sixth centre due to open in November 2009.

Morfin says the ambition is to have a centre in every part of the UK: “There is no limit to our appetite to bring change and hope to young people and their families,” he says.

Around 91 per cent of young people who attend the centres re-engage in education or training. Nearly 60 per cent return to mainstream school and another 30 per cent attend training courses.

Morfin says this is achieved through strict rigour at all the centres: “We register each centre as an independent school,” he says. “And we are monitored by Ofsted. This is real education and when pupils go back to school they are fully equipped to continue academically.”

The judges paid tribute to the charity's "very careful management", adding: "This is tough to do well and they are doing it very well indeed."

Mr Tim Morfin
Chief executive
Centre of Excellence
BD5 8HH
Telephone: 07947 730 643
Website: www.tlg.org.uk

Park View 4U  

Boosting community cohesion by transforming a local park

Park View 4 U reduced youth crime and engaged teenagers with older generations by transforming a boggy field into a recreational park for the community in Lytham.

The project was born in 2003 out of frustration with the lack of community facilities which were seen as the primary cause of growing juvenile nuisance.

Park View 4 U decided to develop the Park View playing fields, which had been neglected for many years. To kick off the campaign, the local community spelt the word HELP on the park and got a pilot from Blackpool Airport to film it.

It worked with the local council, businesses and community to fundraise, and engaged with the public on what the park should feature.

To date, this has included two cycle paths, a car park, toddler area, BMX track, skate park, a tai chi area for senior citizens, four football pitches and a woodland walk.

Catherine Powell, chair of Park View 4 U, says the effect on the community has been fantastic: “Before we had lots of problems like vandalism and drinking on street corners, now this has almost been eradicated as young people are actively engaged together on one site.”

The park has also brought the young and old in the community together: “Before older people in the community considered teenagers as thugs in hoodies, and young people had no respect for the elderly.

“Now old people come to the park and enjoy watching teenagers ride their bikes, or do spray painting. It’s breaking down barriers.”

The success of the project has created the need for indoor facilities which the people of Lytham can access all year round. Now Park View 4 U plans to develop an eco community centre and a sports activity centre.

“We have earned the respect of the whole community,” says Powell. “There are so many stories to tell.  Doris, a 90-year-old wheelchair-bound resident, recently wrote to us saying that the park had given her a new lease of life as she now has something to go out for. She goes to the park whenever she can and says there is always someone to talk to.”

Mrs Catherine Powell
Chair
63 Warton Street
Lytham FY8 5DQ
01253 736 754
www.parkview4u.org.uk
Reg no: 1107916