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Award Winning 'X-It' Gang Project Praised By Home Secretary

19 December 2007

An innovative project based in Brixton, South London, which aims to reduce offending behaviour among young people who are directly at risk of joining gangs or who want to leave gangs has been praised today by Home Secretary Jacqui Smith during a visit to Lambeth.

Lambeth Council’s X-it programme, operated by the Children and Young People’s Service with the police, community safety teams, tenant associations and youth workers, is run by young people who have successfully left gangs and who are then encouraged to become peer mentors for others who are at risk of being influenced by gang culture and peer pressure.

 

The project has been offering a modular programme of intensive support and self-esteem building through group work sessions, residential courses and leadership programmes since 2004. It aims to:

 

• Reduce levels of weapon use and serious crime amongst young people identified as being at risk of progressing to more serious levels of crime
• Develop young people’s self-awareness and sense of identity, helping them to make informed decisions independent of peer and street culture
• Identify and nurture a core group of young leaders who will inform future initiatives addressing this target group.

 Home Secretary Jacqui Smith said:

 

“I am committed to helping young people find alternatives to gang life. Gangs of young people can cause fear in our communities and members are often involved in criminal activities which can lead to serious violence.

 

“I set up the Tackling Gangs Action Programme earlier this year to tackle gun and gang crime in four key areas within London, Manchester, Birmingham and Liverpool, which have been identified by police as suffering disproportionately from the problem.

 

“The young people I have met today have turned their lives around and

the X-it project has played a vital part in offering them an alternative to a life of crime. I am pleased to see such positive action being taken to tackle gang culture, particularly when the action is led by the young people themselves. This sends a powerful message that gangs and weapons on our streets will not be tolerated by any of us.”

 

An evaluation of the programme showed that 72 per cent of participants had desisted from offending during their involvement with the project.

 

Leader of Lambeth Council, Councillor Steve Reed said:

 

“The X-it programme does fantastic work in keeping young people away from crime. The young people here today, many of whom are now working or off to university, are proof that when given the opportunity they can put their energy to good use and achieve great things.

 

“Not many of our young people get involved in crime, but when they do, it has a huge impact on their families, friends and neighbours. We know this is a top concern for Lambeth residents and will continue to do all we can to help young people reach their full potential.”

 

The Home Secretary also met Metropolitan Police Lambeth Borough Commander Sharon Rowe and officers from the local Safer Neighbourhoods team on a walkabout of the Moorlands Estate.

 

NOTES TO EDITORS:

1. The X-it programme last month won the prestigious Children’s Services Award in the Guardian newspaper’s Public Services Awards contest.

 

2. The Tackling Gangs Action Programme was set up on 9 September 2007 and is run by a dedicated national unit comprising of members from central Government, local Government and frontline services. It is overseen by a central Ministerial Taskforce on guns and gangs, chaired by the Home Secretary.

 

3. The Government created a new Youth Taskforce on 5 October 2007 to help young people fulfil their potential, prevent them getting into trouble and to give and get respect in their communities. The Youth Taskforce will take forward the work of the Respect Taskforce and will use its location in the Department for Children, Schools and Families to strengthen the role that positive activities and youth support services can play in improving the lives of the most vulnerable teenagers.

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