ST MARY's CENTRE Annual Report WE REDUCE VIOLENCE WE SAVE
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WE REDUCE VIOLENCE WE SAVE LIVES ST MARY’S CENTRE Annual Report June 2018 to June 2019 St Mary’s Centre (smc) works with vulnerable young people aged 12-25 facing daily threats of violence, kidnap and death in northwest London. We work in local housing estates, schools, pupil referral units and prisons. We have 12 years’ proven record of violence reduction. We care for young people who have nowhere else to go. CONTENTS Who we are 1 What we do 7 Our impact 19 We need to do more 25 bCOVER IMAGE: ALEXEY FEDORENKO ST MARY’S CENTRE Annual Report ST MARY’S CENTRE Annual Report 1 Who we are Our 4 promises Where we work We have a Youth Work Manager, We are here for you a Youth Worker and two part time Young Women’s Workers. Our St Mary’s Centre Youth Workers are on call 24x7x365 including team is supported by young adult Christmas Day. volunteers. Local professionals fund raise and manage our service freely. 1 Jason Allen Youth Work Manager We stick with you St Mary’s Centre will stay with you without condition until the age of 25. Emile Libock Youth Worker 2 We come to you St Mary’s Centre will come to meet ESTATES SCHOOLS Sara Beshira you in your home, community, school 1 South Kilburn A UCL Academy Young Women’s Worker or prison. Wherever you go, we 2 Rowley Way B St Paul’s Primary School follow you. 3 Lithos Road C Haverstock School 4 Swiss Cottage D CCFL (Pupil Referral Unit) 3 5 Chalcot Camilla Ferdinand 6 Fleet Young Women’s Worker We do everything we 7 Queen’s Crescent can to keep you safe 8 Denton Violence reduction is at the core of 9 Chalk Farm our work. We specialise in working 10 Castle Haven with young people our Youth Work 11 Peckwater (Kentish Town) Manager calls ‘not just the at risk, but the risk’. 12 Agar Grove 13 Combo/Regent’s Park 4 14 Somers Town 2 ST MARY’S CENTRE Annual Report ST MARY’S CENTRE Annual Report 3 They have been What do partner services say about us? successful in reaching our most hard to reach students…St Mary’s CAMDEN CENTRE FOR LEARNING never gives up! We talked with Jeanette Lowe, community, and through this they have remained engaged with them the Centre’s Director are able to secure the confidence when other services have fallen away and trust of the young people and or have closed the case because the How does St Mary’s their families. Their presence and young person is not engaging. contribute to your work involvement in the community St Mary’s never gives up! as a school? means they can often anticipate St Mary’s has been providing Health disputes and diffuse situations before What would you like to & Fitness and Drama sessions to they arise, avoiding the escalation of see happen next? the school this year. Through these potential conflicts. We want to continue to develop our they have been able to identify partnership with St Mary’s, working young people who are in need of What is being achieved? to ensure that our most vulnerable Camden Centre for Learning is The students at CCfL include cohort – who we often lose to Camden’s educational provision targeted mentoring because of their for secondary aged children and vulnerability to criminal exploitation some of the most vulnerable and the streets, violence and criminal young people whose primary in the community. The mentoring at risk students in Camden. The activity – are engaged in education, need is their social, emotional service – the only one we are aware mentors from St Mary’s that have achieving and succeeding, and most or mental health development. of which is available to young people been attached to our students have importantly, safe. It is made up of three specialist 24/7 – has enabled St Mary’s to keep been able to form highly effective services: our young people safe and divert and positive relationships with this them away from potentially high risk cohort, some of whom are either on • SEMH Special School • KS3 Pupil Referral Unit situations. the fringes or are already embedded • KS4 Pupil Referral Unit in anti-social behaviour and criminal Why does it matter? exploitation. The mentors help The service is so important for the our young people to develop their young people at our school because self-esteem, their resilience and the many of them do not have a positive skills and confidence they need to adult they can turn to when they are make more positive choices. They feeling vulnerable and unsafe. The have been successful in reaching mentors are very active in the local our most hard to reach students and 4 ST MARY’S CENTRE Annual Report ST MARY’S CENTRE Annual Report 5 Why are we needed? What we do Statistics show that crime is Poverty in our area worsening. Fewer safe places 30% of young people live in poverty in exist for young people on the our 3 local wards www.cuf.org.uk streets of London. This amounts to 4,600 youth. SMC estimates 20% of the 4,600 would benefit from our intensive 1:1 mentoring. SMC could work with 920 more young people. Crime 30% of our local children and 16% increase in knife crime in London young people live 2017-18 Met Police in poverty 12% increase in homicide in London, costing the taxpayer £3.2 million that’s Home Office 4,600 youth Youth who experience 4 or more Adverse living in poverty Childhood Experiences are 10 times more likely to be involved in violence every year by the time they are 18 20% of them are Commission on Youth Violence (CYV) estimated to In the CYV Safer Lives Survey, only 46% need our of young people would ask the police for services advice when worried about crime we could Youth services work with 81 youth clubs have closed in London 920 since 2011 London’s Lost Youth Services, 2018 more Youth centres are cited as the number one factor that make young people feel young people safer Safer Lives Survey, CYV 6 ST MARY’S CENTRE Annual Report ST MARY’S CENTRE Annual Report 7 Violence reduction in communities When things go wrong: and on the streets how we respond to a crisis Why? Where? Contact Identify When crimes are committed there We meet and mentor young people is a ‘wall of silence’ between ‘young in 14 local housing estates including Young people reach Youth worker identifies people and support services’.* SMC the challenging Peckwater and out to a trusted youth close friends of victim worker to report and those who need to are among few professionals who are Queen’s Crescent estates. We host an incident be contacted immediately trusted by both sides and effectively a drop-in session at SMC every to support them in a communicate with young people in Friday. We have an Open Door policy 1 time of trauma danger. throughout the week. Calm 2 What? Who? Youth workers use time in SMC Workers work hard to Our two full time Youth Workers conversation to help young Engage communicate with residents and work intensively with on average people think things through, discover problems and dangers 20 young people each. Our Young reduce high emotions Contact with young people that young people face. We build Women’s Workers have built a Priority is to prevent reprisals is by phone first relationships and strengthen young growing new cohort of 10 young or further acts of violence Face to face time if possible people’s resolve so as not to give in women. SMC is always clear about Youth workers always go sharing important information to destructive peer pressure. Each to young people where to protect all parties they feel safe Youth Worker mentors at risk individuals for around 10 to 15 hours 3 4 a week. Bring together Key young people are invited to take part in group work to process what has happened Residential trip planning to take them away from volatile situations, expedited if need be. Priority given for family members and close friends. Youth workers continue to monitor at risk youth *Commission on Youth Violence 5 8 ST MARY’S CENTRE Annual Report ST MARY’S CENTRE Annual Report 9 Schools Why? Who? Persistent disruptive behaviour and Our Support Youth Worker works physical assault against adults and with 15 pupils weekly. Our Young pupils are the most common reasons Women’s Worker is now building a for temporary and permanent new cohort of 5-10 young women. exclusions*. Research puts the cost of a school exclusion at £370,000** to society. What? Youth Workers work with local schools to identify pupils at high Research puts the risk of exclusion and violence. With cost of a school pupils we discuss relationships, exclusion at choices, triggers, patterns of £370,000 behaviour and how to pre-empt dangerous situations. Where? St Mary’s Centre works in UCL Academy and Haverstock School twice weekly. *www.gov.uk/government/statistics/ permanent-and-fixed-period-exclusions-in- england-2016-to-2017 **Institute for Public Policy Research, October 2017 www.ippr.org/files/2017- 10/making-the-difference-report- october-2017.pdf 10 ST MARY’S CENTRE Annual Report ST MARY’S CENTRE Annual Report 11 Pupil Referral Units and Prisons Why? Who? St Mary’s Centre intensive 1:1 SMC works with 10 young people mentoring support lowers the at CCFL.