For the first time, traumatised young people started to voice their fears about criminal gangs. Their concerns led to the birth of an innovative project that offers an alternative to the growing number of teenagers at risk of being involved with gangs, guns and knives. The X-it programme in south London works to counter gang membership by getting young people to think about the choices they are making.
By offering support, group work sessions, residential courses and leadership programmes, peer mentors and youth workers target teenage crew members at "hotspots" - areas where young people's criminal activity is causing problems.
The 32-week project is led by the young people who use it. The multi-agency programme is now being used by 66 young people a year, some of whom have gone on to become role models, to find a vocation or follow university courses.
Julia Wolton, youth worker and programme coordinator, took the lead in setting up the project within months of the murder. "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."
A meeting was held on the troubled Moorlands estate 20 young people, all in hoodies, turned up, recalls Wolton. "I talked to them about taking responsibility and the impact crime had. We recruited some and the programme began."
Involvement in the scheme is voluntary. But young people, most of who are excluded from school, have to make a commitment to change their behaviour. Once they are ready to make the 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 pounds 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 in the Lake District with Brathay Hall, a charity that specialises in youth development. The young people 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.
For 18-year-old Dennis, X-it has been life-changing. 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."
An independent evaluation of the project found that 72% of young people stopped 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.
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."
Services delivery, children's services award
SPONSOR: NSPCC
WINNER: Lambeth council for its X-it programme, which uses peer mentors to tackle gang membership
RUNNERS-UP:
The Relationships Centre for its Talk... Don't Walk programme that offers under-16s in Warrington the opportunity to talk through their problems before they resort to running away from home
Storybook Dad allows prisoners to record themselves reading stories for their children
