New Handsworth youth club aims to keep children away from crime
The club has been set up by the charity Birmingham Says No to Knife Crime
A new youth hub has been set up in Handsworth to help young people stay safe and avoid crime.
It provides self-defence classes and in-school counselling sessions for a local secondary school.
The club has been set up by the charity Birmingham Says No to Knife Crime, which was set up by Rachel Warren with fellow mum Dee Kelly, in 2019, after Rachel's son was robbed at knifepoint.
The after-school youth hub will also offer free sports and art activities, free food and access to mentors, in collaboration with the youth-led My Tomorrow campaign.
It's thanks to a £10,000 grant from the West Midlands Violence Reduction Partnership (VRP), funded by the Police and Crime Commissioner, Simon Foster.
The money is also paying for a series of self-defence and conflict resolution classes run by 6x World Kickboxing Champion Waine 'Homeboy' Turner and two counsellors, who are delivering interventions with students two days a week at the nearby Saint John Wall Secondary School.
Rachel Warren is co-director of the charity, and is also a full-time school teacher in Handsworth where she has taught for almost 20 years.
Speaking ahead of knife crime awareness week, Rachel said that more than 50 young people turned up to the youth hub’s first session last month, which shows the huge need in the area.
She added: “Where we are, is a volatile area, with high youth violence and gang activity. More needs to be done to tackle the underlying issues. We are not getting to the root causes of the problems in our community, we are simply cutting the branches and more needs to be done.
"Many young people have experienced past traumas, poverty or mental health, which is why I wanted to use some of the money to support the use of in-school counsellors as well as the hub; a safe space for young people to come along and relax and feel safe. Adolescence is such a crucial age and young people need support.”
Co-director Dee Kelly said: "The young people who are showing up here say there is normally nowhere to go, and nothing to do. We’ve been inundated.
“We want it to be a relaxed atmosphere, somewhere young people can just drop in after school, have some free food and hang out, but we have also had some young people come in looking for some help and guidance and they have really engaged with us and opened up about some of the challenges they are facing.”
Police and Crime Commissioner for the West Midlands, Simon Foster, who chairs the West Midlands Violence Reduction Partnership (VRP) Strategic Board, said: “Investing in people who are on the ground, with strong connections in their communities, has always been a successful way to reach young people and influence their lives for the better.
“The fact that this new youth hub has been so popular from day one, is a testament to the hard work of the team at Birmingham Says No to Knife Crime and Youth Violence. I am pleased to be working with them, because together, we can and we will, prevent and tackle youth violence and knife crime and keep our young people safe.”
The youth hub and in-school interventions will be funded for two months, serving as a pilot, after which time the project will be evaluated before any decisions are made about further funding.