The Makeda Weaver Project.

Funding: £250,000 from the City Parochial Foundation, the Tudor Trust, the Pilgrim Trust and the Shian Housing Association

Aim: To draw young black men away from gangs and crime and into mainstream society

Makeda Weaver Project manager Steve Joseph is currently recruiting and he's looking for a particular kind of person. "I'm looking for people who have street experience, because engaging this client group is difficult," he says.

The group in question is young men involved in violent gangs in east London. The project runs intervention schemes in schools and works with teenagers on the periphery of gangs. But the main prize is prolific gang members and gang leaders themselves. "I try to engage the leaders because they can have the most impact," says Joseph.

Some walk into the project's Hackney office and ask for help because they have had enough of the gang lifestyle. Others may be referred by the police or word-of-mouth. Joseph describes the project's methods as "loosely" re-programming. It attempts to puncture myths about gangs and bring home the reality of the effect they have on the community.

One crucial element in the process is that the gang members are "isolated from their environment". This means that the project's parent organisation, the Shian Housing Association, finds them a flat or house in either Haringey, Islington or Hackney. It's not far away - but it's far enough. "Most of these guys are on estates. If you can get them off the estate, they have space to see how they can move on."

Moving on might come in the shape of an apprenticeship or job with one of the project's partners. Only one of the 26 young people the project has worked with intensively has reoffended, and that was for missing a probation appointment. One ex-gang member is now studying for a degree in criminology, while another works for the project itself.