Redthread to target young people before involvement in violence, five-year strategy reveals

The organisation supports young victims of knife crime by placing trauma-informed youth workers in emergency departments in 13 hospitals across London and the Midlands.

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As part of its new strategy, launched today (29 June), the organisation aims to create new projects to meet young people before they become victims of violence, exploitation or knife crime by 2026.

It also plans to deliver a three-year pilot scheme “which will enable young people to access tailored, trauma-informed support in whichever health setting they present”.

On top of direct service delivery, Redthread also seeks to act as a thought leader in the field of youth violence intervention” including championing the voice of young people, the charity has said. 

The strategy states that “over the next five years the charity will extend the Hospital Interrupting Violence Exchange (Hive) Network to welcome more youth practitioners working in health settings to its training sessions, conferences and webinars”. 

“Redthread will also continue to develop its policy team, building on its work co-ordinating the APPG on Knife Crime and Violence Reduction to diversify its public affairs and engagement programme and bring frontline insights to those with the power to change policy,” it adds.

According to the report, between 2017 and 2020 Redthread grew its staff headcount from 36 to 81 while the number of young people supported by the charity grew from 1808 to 2905 in the same time period.

The organisation’s flagship youth violence intervention programme has so-far received £1.4m of government funding since 2016.

John Poyton, chief executive at Redthread, said: “The past five years have seen a tragic escalation of knife crime and youth violence. Redthread have responded to this need and have proven that our work in the hospital helps change young lives. 

“Our job now is clear: to find new ways to help young people who are at risk sooner, and to share what we’ve learned to support others working in the sector and inform policy around youth work and youth violence.”

Meanwhile, a new report from the Centre for Social Justice (CSJ) warns that in Autumn 2020, during the first term back after the pandemic, 93,514 pupils were severely absent compared with 60,244 pupils who were severely absent in the same term in 2019.

CSJ chief executive, Andy Cook, has warned that missing school increases a child’s risk of exclusion.

“This, in turn, acts as a conveyor belt into the youth justice system and on into the adult prison estate,” he said.

The report states that 59 per cent of prisoners report that they regularly missed school while 63 per cent experienced a fixed-term exclusion and 42 per cent were permanently excluded.

“This is mirrored in the youth justice system where 73 per cent of boys in custody report truanting at some time and 86 per cent say they had been excluded from school before they came to detention,” it adds.

The CSJ is calling on the government to “extend existing support offered by the National Tutoring Programme with a focus on attendance”.