Project notes: Teens and Toddlers, London

Goals: To prevent teenage pregnancy and tackle social exclusion of at-risk young people

Funding: Local authorities pay 22,000 to run the project, which is match-funded by Teens and Toddlers through fundraising

Britain has the highest teenage pregnancy levels in Europe, but Teens and Toddlers has been working to slow this trend by educating teenagers through interaction with young children.

Diana Whitmore, chief executive of Teens and Toddlers, imported the idea from the US in 2001. Since then the scheme has been extended into six London boroughs: Southwark, Islington, Tower Hamlets, Greenwich, Brent and Camden.

Teens and Toddlers works in partnership with local schools and nurseries, which refer toddlers and teenagers aged 14 to 17 who have been assessed as "at risk". According to Whitmore, teenagers who were the result of a teenage pregnancy are likely to become young parents themselves.