Memorandum submitted by the Prince's Trust
BACKGROUND
The Prince's Trust is a charity that believes
in young people who often don't believe in themselves. We seek
out those young people that need our help the most and work with
young people who struggle at school, are in or leaving care, are
long-term unemployed or have been in trouble with the law. We
work with young people aged 14-30 to help them get back into work,
education and training.
The Prince's Trust is helping to break the cycle
of crime by offering offenders training and support so they can
turn their lives around and give back to society. The Prince's
Trust helps offenders and ex-offenders move into employment, training
or education:
— 65% of offenders and ex-offenders
The Prince's Trust supported in 2005-06 went on to employment,
training of education.
— 67% of people released from prison
go on to re-offend within two years.[5]
The Trust has supported a number of projects
across the UK which tackle knife crime (case studies attached).
The Prince's Trust has a significant role to
play in helping to tackle the growing rise in youth crime, including
knife crime. We work on successful tried and tested programmes
which are helping to tackle youth crime, through working on the
very estates where gang culture is endemic.
All Trust programmes aim to help young people
into education, employment or training and many enable young people
to give back to their local communities. For example, The Trust's
Team programme enables young people to take part in a community
project. Through the Team programme The Trust contributes more
than £4.75 million to local communities through community
projects.
More information on The Trust's work with offenders
is available in its written submission to the Home Affairs Select
Committee inquiry into effective sentencing (dated 28 February
2007)
CASE STUDIES
NB: Names have been changed
Thoughts, Feelings, Action
Bristol
20 year old Finlay is unemployed and left school
with no qualifications. He has been involved for some time with
the Gang Awareness Project based in Easton in Bristol, which has
a high rate of knife crime. The project works with young gang
members to provide support and advice, looking at methods of conflict
resolution.
The Thoughts, Feelings, Actions project, which
Finlay established with a group of other young people, was given
a Prince's Trust Group Award of £5,000 to use drama to explore
the issues of knife crime, and promote an anti-knife message through
a DVD.
Much of their work was based on personal experiences
and reconstructions of real life events. The group got vital support
from Gang Awareness workers, as all of the group have been affected
by knife crime; either being involved in it, their family involved
in it, or they know a member of their peer group who has suffered
as a result. One relative of a group member was stabbed to death
in the street in Easton a few years ago during a period of intense
gang conflict.
The anti-knife DVD has been distributed to local
youth clubs and schools, the Bristol Youth Offending Team and
Safer Bristol. Operation Blunt is considering using the DVD in
Young Offenders Institutes and prisons. UK Youth is looking at
using it as a resource available for youth workers and young people
across the UK. The DVD has also been sold to generate a profit
to cover costs and to ensure the project becomes sustainable.
The project has provided a positive experience
for the young people, many of whom are not in education or work.
It has allowed them to address a serious problem within their
community in a creative way, encouraging personal responsibility
and conflict resolution. For many of the young people in this
community, knife crime is a way of life—this group aims
to change that mentality.
African Caribbean Youth Forum
Huddersfield
A group of Afro Caribbean young people, who
know each other through the Hadawe Community Centre in Huddersfield,
was given a £4,800 Prince's Trust Group Award to set up a
forum for young people to ensure young voices are heard and local
issues and worries are discussed and listened to by all the community.
The primary aim is to stop crime, in particular gun and knife
crime, which is on the increase in the area. The purpose of the
forum is to guide the group towards what is needed and wanted
by the community. They will then set up music, dance and sport
events for the local community promoting unity and positive activities
for local young people.
The project has started with a music competition
called MC Factor, like X Factor but rapping. The group now plan
to set up football teams, other sports teams, dance and drama
groups and voluntary opportunities in the community. They will
also invite the Police and anti gun/knife crime workers from other
areas to talk to the young people in the forum to promote anti
crime. The project is supported by the Police, youth workers and
community leaders.
Trinity Music Event
Bristol
The purpose of this Prince's Trust supported
project was to use music to tackle issues such as knife, gun and
violent crime. The project was run by Darren, a young person who
attends a local community organisation, Trinity Centre, which
provides a space for young people to get involved in music and
dance.
He ran an MC Competition and used the event
as a way to spread anti knife and gun crime messages. They did
this by having a "positive MC battle", as opposed to
the usual practice of saying derogatory things about the person
you are "battling". Over 200 young people attended.
They also ran a series of MC and dance workshops
leading up to the event to get more young people involved and
particularly targeted young people who are touched by drugs, crime,
unemployment and anti-social behaviour.
The project has been a very positive experience
for Darren, who is now applying for another Trust Group Award
to use the internet to promote the positive messages of the project.
RECOMMENDATIONS:
(a) The Government should look at existing
successful voluntary sector initiatives which tackle knife crime,
such as projects run by The Prince's Trust, and ensure they are
funded more robustly, rather than creating many new initiatives.
(b) The Government needs to work with the
private and voluntary sectors to deliver innovative solutions
for effectively tackling the issues associated with knife crime.
(c) The Government should listen to the experiences
of offenders to help shape policies that help them stop re-offending.
(d) The Trust supports the Government's community-led
approach in the fight against knife crime and would encourage
more funding for projects which allow young people to take responsibility
for themselves and their communities, such as The Trust's Team
programme.
(e) More diversionary activities should be
available to divert young people away from crime through positive
activities such as The Trust's xl and Team programmes.
More information is available at: www.princes-trust.org.uk
15 March 2007
5 Prison Reform Trust (2006) Bromley Briefings Prison
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