X-it programme

An evaluation of the programme showed that 72 per cent of participants had desisted from offending during their involvement with the project.As a result, the Home Office has singled it out as a template for other local authorities to follow.

Lambeth Council’s award winning X-it programme, operated by the Children and Young People’s Service with the police, community safety teams, tenant associations and youth workers, is run by young people who have successfully left gangs and who are then encouraged to become peer mentors for others who are at risk of being influenced by gang culture and peer pressure.

The project, winner of the Guardian Public Services Award 2007, has been offering a modular programme of intensive support and self-esteem building through group work sessions, residential courses and leadership programmes since 2004. It aims to:

· Reduce levels of weapon use and serious crime amongst young people identified as being at risk of progressing to more serious levels of crime;

· Develop young people’s self-awareness and sense of identity, helping them to make informed decisions independent of peer and street culture; and

· Identify and nurture a core group of young leaders who will inform future initiatives addressing this target group

Julia Wolton, youth worker and programme coordinator, took the lead in setting up the project within months of the murder of Adrian Marriott.

"After Adrian was shot, a lot of young people were scared," she says. "There was a lot of pressure on some young people to join a local crew and convert to Islam. I decided something was needed, so I designed a programme working with other agencies that adopted youth work practice, group work and peer mentors."

Involvement in the scheme is voluntary. But young people, most of whom are excluded from school, have to make a commitment to change their behaviour. Once they are ready to make that commitment, six are selected from each of three "hotspots" identified on the estates.

"Generally people opt in to the project," says Wolton. "We say the programme offers choices. For instance we get them to think if it's worth robbing a mobile phone for £10 when they risk a prison sentence. We also talk about their reasons for being strapped [carrying a weapon]."

Each programme starts with 10 weeks of group work sessions on the user's "endz" or home territory, with sessions on such issues as weapon carrying, the economics of crime, drug abuse, peer pressure and conflict resolution.

This is followed by a six-day residential course in the Lake District with Brathay Hall, a charity that specialises in youth development.

The youngsters then go on a 20-week leadership programme, devised by social charity In-Volve. The programme involves one-to-one support and life coaching. It is designed to increase self-awareness and empower young people towards constructive and informed decision-making.

The project has been praised by Home Secretary Jacqui Smith during a visit to Lambeth.

“I am committed to helping young people find alternatives to gang life. Gangs of young people can cause fear in our communities and members are often involved in criminal activities which can lead to serious violence.

The young people I have met today have turned their lives around and the X-it project has played a vital part in offering them an alternative to a life of crime. I am pleased to see such positive action being taken to tackle gang culture, particularly when the action is led by the young people themselves. This sends a powerful message that gangs and weapons on our streets will not be tolerated by any of us.”

Case study

For 18 year old Dennis, X-it has been a life-changing experience. One of the early "graduates" of the programme, Dennis has been a peer mentor for the last two years. A former small time drug dealer and crew member, he is now a photography student and aspiring script writer.

"I heard about the programme from someone I did judo with on the estate," he says. "At the time I spent much of my life on the street. Sometimes I wouldn't get home until the morning. We started robbing phones and selling drugs to make money. However, it started getting out of hand. Someone I knew went to jail. That's when I heard about the programme. And I thought maybe I needed to change my ways."

A similar scheme is now being adopted in Hackney, east London, and X-it has just launched three new programmes in and around Brixton. Mentors are now going into schools speaking to a younger generation about how to avoid peer pressure from gangs.

Such work is critical, according to Dennis, who is passionate about his role as peer mentor. "There are lots of other young people doing the same thing as me. I want to show them there is more out there."

 

For more information please contact: Julia Wolton on 020 7926 1028 - jwolton@lambeth.gov.uk or Junior Shabazz on 020 7926 2676 - jshabazz@lambeth.gov.uk

X-it programme

An evaluation of the programme showed that 72 per cent of participants had desisted from offending during their involvement with the project.As a result, the Home Office has singled it out as a template for other local authorities to follow.

Lambeth Council’s award winning X-it programme, operated by the Children and Young People’s Service with the police, community safety teams, tenant associations and youth workers, is run by young people who have successfully left gangs and who are then encouraged to become peer mentors for others who are at risk of being influenced by gang culture and peer pressure.

The project, winner of the Guardian Public Services Award 2007, has been offering a modular programme of intensive support and self-esteem building through group work sessions, residential courses and leadership programmes since 2004. It aims to:

· Reduce levels of weapon use and serious crime amongst young people identified as being at risk of progressing to more serious levels of crime;

· Develop young people’s self-awareness and sense of identity, helping them to make informed decisions independent of peer and street culture; and

· Identify and nurture a core group of young leaders who will inform future initiatives addressing this target group

Julia Wolton, youth worker and programme coordinator, took the lead in setting up the project within months of the murder of Adrian Marriott.

"After Adrian was shot, a lot of young people were scared," she says. "There was a lot of pressure on some young people to join a local crew and convert to Islam. I decided something was needed, so I designed a programme working with other agencies that adopted youth work practice, group work and peer mentors."

Involvement in the scheme is voluntary. But young people, most of whom are excluded from school, have to make a commitment to change their behaviour. Once they are ready to make that commitment, six are selected from each of three "hotspots" identified on the estates.

"Generally people opt in to the project," says Wolton. "We say the programme offers choices. For instance we get them to think if it's worth robbing a mobile phone for £10 when they risk a prison sentence. We also talk about their reasons for being strapped [carrying a weapon]."

Each programme starts with 10 weeks of group work sessions on the user's "endz" or home territory, with sessions on such issues as weapon carrying, the economics of crime, drug abuse, peer pressure and conflict resolution.

This is followed by a six-day residential course in the Lake District with Brathay Hall, a charity that specialises in youth development.

The youngsters then go on a 20-week leadership programme, devised by social charity In-Volve. The programme involves one-to-one support and life coaching. It is designed to increase self-awareness and empower young people towards constructive and informed decision-making.

The project has been praised by Home Secretary Jacqui Smith during a visit to Lambeth.

“I am committed to helping young people find alternatives to gang life. Gangs of young people can cause fear in our communities and members are often involved in criminal activities which can lead to serious violence.

The young people I have met today have turned their lives around and the X-it project has played a vital part in offering them an alternative to a life of crime. I am pleased to see such positive action being taken to tackle gang culture, particularly when the action is led by the young people themselves. This sends a powerful message that gangs and weapons on our streets will not be tolerated by any of us.”

Case study

For 18 year old Dennis, X-it has been a life-changing experience. One of the early "graduates" of the programme, Dennis has been a peer mentor for the last two years. A former small time drug dealer and crew member, he is now a photography student and aspiring script writer.

"I heard about the programme from someone I did judo with on the estate," he says. "At the time I spent much of my life on the street. Sometimes I wouldn't get home until the morning. We started robbing phones and selling drugs to make money. However, it started getting out of hand. Someone I knew went to jail. That's when I heard about the programme. And I thought maybe I needed to change my ways."

A similar scheme is now being adopted in Hackney, east London, and X-it has just launched three new programmes in and around Brixton. Mentors are now going into schools speaking to a younger generation about how to avoid peer pressure from gangs.

Such work is critical, according to Dennis, who is passionate about his role as peer mentor. "There are lots of other young people doing the same thing as me. I want to show them there is more out there."

 

For more information please contact: Julia Wolton on 020 7926 1028 - jwolton@lambeth.gov.uk or Junior Shabazz on 020 7926 2676 - jshabazz@lambeth.gov.uk