Client Stories

Ed

Ed is 16 and grew up in Thailand before moving to Croydon. His parents are in the restaurant business and Ed is left alone for long periods of time in the evenings until well after midnight whilst they are at work. Because of this Ed spent a lot of time with friends and soon became involved in the fringes of gang activity. Although he has never been involved in any criminal behaviour, he was sometimes around when the police picked up other gang members; this led to his referral to the SOVA Croydon Young People’s Project. Ed was soon matched up with volunteer mentor Collette.

Ed admitted to Collette that he had issues with peer pressure and anger management, and confessed to getting involved in “bad” activities to “fit in”. However, he made it clear that he is not happy with this lifestyle and expressed a desire to stay out of trouble. His college work was also beginning to suffer. Collette helped Ed to identify three things that he particularly wanted to focus on within the mentoring relationship. These were to finish his college course successfully; to improve his relationship with his dad who, because of his army background, Ed felt was too strict; and to look at moving into his own accommodation (Ed’s parents were planning a move to the south coast to open a new restaurant and Ed didn’t want to go).

Collette has been encouraging Ed to find different mechanisms to deal with his anger, and together they have been role-playing difficult scenarios around family relationships and discussing how Ed might cope with these situations. Because of his involvement with gangs, Ed finds some areas in the town centre intimidating, particularly those areas where the gangs congregate. Collette is helping him to access resources in Croydon where he feels safe and encouraging him to engage in positive leisure activities focused on his main areas of interest: football, basketball and street dancing. Coincidentally, Collette has a friend who teaches street dancing and is exploring options for Ed to get involved.

Ed’s ambition is to become a physiotherapist or sports instructor, and Collette is encouraging him with his course work as well as supporting him in making the transition to his second year at college. They have begun to explore options around independent living and the part-time work that will be necessary to fund this.

Collette says, “I can quite understand why someone like Ed gets involved with gangs. Left on his own, they must seem like a kind of extended family. But Ed’s a good kid and I am pleased to think we might have been able to channel his energies before he went too far down that road.”

Name changed to protect identity

SOVA projects provide a variety of opportunities for young people who are socially isolated/excluded or who may be considered to be at risk of offending. Some projects also offer services to parents.

The Croydon Young People’s Project offers a number of programmes, such as the Healthy Living Project. During the year 77 young people, 74% from BME backgrounds, took part in activities centred sports, music and art. A sufficient number completed a 12-week football programme to allow for a team
to be formed and regular fixtures to be set with other youth groups. The establishment of a working relationship with Duke McKenzie’s Duke Box Gym has enabled the project to add boxing to the list of
activities on offer, which has proved very popular. Following a successful pilot in 2004, a 12-week drama programme was introduced: young people chose the theme of ‘body image’ and at the end of the summer the programme culminated in a performance attended by the Mayor.

Many SOVA projects offer services to young people who are just beginning to get into trouble. This includes Appropriate Adult services and bail support. SOVA Appropriate Adult schemes continue to perform well above target: in Derby City attending 597 call outs against a target of 400; in Sheffield missing only three out of 800 call outs, providing over 4,500 volunteer hours; in Lincolnshire providing 12 hours of cover, seven days a week, 365 days a year, over an area of 2,284 square miles. The SOVA
project in Derby City added a PACE Secure Remand Transfer service to its repertoire during the year, whereby volunteers on a rota sit with young people in their cells whilst they await transport to a secure establishment or YOI.

The Barnsley Bail Supervision and Community Remand Scheme introduced ‘Let’s Talk About It’, a programme of sessions delivered in schools in the area, aimed at deterring young people form committing crime.