"The main one is sustainability," he says. "We're looking at how we can get local projects on a more sound financial footing. It links into the policy agenda. We need to get to a position where preventing young people from getting involved in crime in a funding context is on a par with the funding of enforcement. They need to be valued equally."
Positive Futures is entering a turbulent period. Run by the charity Crime Concern, it uses sport to help steer young people away from crime. But next month Crime Concern is merging with Rainer, the charity for under-supported young people.
Moreover, a tendering process to run Positive Futures is soon to begin since Crime Concern's three-year contract finishes next year. So it is an busy time to take on the role but Blake is still excited about what he calls his dream job.
He wants projects to have better partnership working, and is eager for Positive Futures programmes to team up with the police. "I want to see more Positive Futures projects being involved in developing that kind of on-the-ground partnership," he says. "There's an idea that partnership is local managers and policy makers sitting in rooms discussing strategies, but where it's really important is on the ground."
Blake also wants more of a focus on youth participation. He's keen to see more young people go from being services users to volunteers, or even employees, at the organisation.
"I believe it is a powerful aspect of the work that Positive Futures delivers, enabling productive peer- and role-model relationships to develop among children and young people from the same communities," he says. "If younger children from deprived areas can see positive role models from older peers in their communities, they are more likely to replicate that behaviour. In terms of crime prevention, Positive Futures clearly shows that it works."
Blake reveals he has had tentative interest from a local authority asking to use the Positive Futures brand. The council would take on the name and tap into Positive Futures' management but fund the project itself.
"It would be like a franchise," he says. "It's a model we're looking to develop. Positive Futures has built a strong brand around youth crime and diverting young people from crime. We have models and expertise in managing programmes and monitoring and evaluation that may be attractive to other organisations working in the same field."
Blake has a keen interest in the youth justice system; he is a special constable for the Metropolitan Police. He says Positive Futures is in talks with the Ministry of Justice to run projects for young prisoners. But he is not convinced by the government's decision to prosecute any young person over the age of 16 for carrying a knife. "I'm not sure that taking them to court in every occasion is going to be a good way forward," he says. "You'll end up with more young people in the criminal justice system, which isn't good."
He says more work is needed to help looked-after children and socially excluded young people, because past efforts "haven't been anything to crow about".
"There needs to be work in communities with young people but also within the wider community to equip them to address issues and get them to engage with young people," he says. "There's a chasm growing between young people and adults in terms of communication and how young people are viewed in public spaces. I see this in my work with the police; groups of young people are in public spaces and adults run away from them."
BACKGROUND - MARK BLAKE
- Blake graduated from the Polytechnic of North London in 1991 with a degree in social policy
- Previous jobs include director of the south London-based HIV charity Blackliners. He also worked for the youth homelessness charity Centrepoint as manager of its resettlement team for two years
- He spent five years at The Windsor Fellowship, which runs personal development and training programmes targeting black and ethnic minority young people
- Most recently, Blake was head of policy at the National Council for Voluntary Youth Services for two years.
