Serious Youth Violence: Listening to young people on the front line
Today the government announced it has appointed charitable foundation Impetus to manage a £200m fund designed to help tackle serious youth violence. Its Youth Endowment Fund will be delivered over 10 years and will be run by Impetus in partnership with the Early Intervention Foundation and the Social Investment Business.
The announcement came as the 27th murder investigation of 2019 was launched by the Met Police as 17 year-old Abdirashid Mohamoud was tragically stabbed to death in Isleworth, West London over the weekend. Levels of knife-related homicides have been increasing across the UK over recent years peaking at 285 in 2017-18, the highest figure since 1946 and one in four victims are men aged 18-24.
Channel 4 News covered the announcement by visiting Syrus CIC - a Youth Music funded project in Croydon, South London - to speak to young people who are experiencing the effects of serious youth violence, such as Alexandre, 16, an aspiring musician who has lost friends to knives and admits he used to feel unsafe without carrying a blade himself:
WATCH: Channel 4 News - 'The young people trying to tackle knife crime'
The government has also promised police forces an extra £100m for knife crime, but many - including Sadiq Khan, London Mayor - have called the money "a drop in the ocean" after years of decreasing public investment.
Listening to young people on the front line
The reasons behind this steady increase in youth violence are complex, deep-rooted and the subject of several politicised debates surrounding stop and search, police numbers, austerity and cuts to the education system, youth services and social welfare.
Many organisations Youth Music supports are working with young people at the front lines of this crisis, including Bollo Brook Youth Centre in Ealing, West London.
Last week The Guardian interviewed Leon and Ayanna, two young people who attend Bollo, for an in-depth 30min podcast feature looking at their lives navigating poverty, gangs, complex family relationships, the housing crisis and more. It is an incredibly powerful insight into the challenges young people are currently dealing with and demonstrates why it is critical for reporters and policy-makers to listen to those with lived experience of these issues:
LISTEN: Guardian 'In Focus' Podcast - 'Growing up with gangs poverty and knife crime'
Similar themes are also explored on the New Economics Foundation podcast featuring Gary Younge, who looks at the reasons behind the increases as well as the government response, media coverage, the policing and the proposed public health approach that achieved a lasting impact in reducing serious violence in Glasgow:
LISTEN New Economics Foundation Podcast - 'Why are we seeing a knife crime epidemic with Gary Younge'
