Hospital youth work scheme set for London-wide expansion
Layla Haidrani
Wednesday, February 18, 2015
An award-winning service that places specialist youth workers in hospital emergency departments in an effort to tackle gang violence is to be expanded across London.
The initiative, set up a decade ago by south London youth charity Redthread at King's College Hospital in Denmark Hill, will now be extended to all four major trauma centres in London following a £600,000 grant awarded by the Mayor of London's office.
The investment will enable Redthread to establish youth work services at St George's Hospital in south west London and the Royal London Hospital in east London, and extend existing schemes at King's and St Mary's Hospital in north west London, which was set up last year.
Through the expansion, King’s will now have the resources to work with victims of violence aged 20 to 25, enabling them to reach 600 more people each year.
The specialist youth workers support young victims of crime and help those involved in gang violence to leave that way of life behind.
Chief executive of Redthread, John Poyton, said: "We are very excited to receive funding from the mayor’s office to expand Redthread's service.
“This will enable our specialist youth workers to provide vital support to more young people in the 'teachable moment’ when the crisis of injury creates a window of opportunity to re-evaluate their future.”
The funding has been made at the same time as new figures released by the Mayor’s Office for Policing And Crime (MOPAC) show that gang offences in London have reduced by 20 per cent.
MOPAC’s Gangs Dashboard, an online database of statistics, shows a total of 5,977 serious youth offences in 2014, a 13 per cent reduction compared to March 2012.
Although gang violence has fallen, officials have said that engaging with young victims of crime at the critical moment of hospital admittance is imperative.
Deputy mayor for policing and crime, Stephen Greenhalgh said: “We have to help those who want to exit gangs and leave violence behind. This vital service will offer young victims of violent crime close personal support from the moment they arrive in hospital to combat London gang crime."
Dr Emer Sutherland, consultant clinical lead for the emergency department at King's College Hospital, said: “Hospitals have a unique opportunity to help try and stop the victim-perpetrator cycle. This is why talking to young people, at this key moment in their lives, can help steer them away from the world of gang violence many find themselves in.”
Redthread won the Youth Work and Children and Young People’s Charity awards at CYP Now’s 2013 awards.
