XLP East Village Mobile Youth Centre

The Pitch

Problem statement

Newham is a borough characterised by both wealth and poverty, where life chances are unequally spread. One of the groups most affected by the inequality is young people, with a shocking 40% growing up in poverty. Young people from poorer communities too often cannot access the opportunities that others take for granted. We know that the Cost of Living crisis is negatively impacting residents and exacerbating pre-existing inequalities for young people. Rising costs and demand are undoubtedly impacting young people in Newham. The YMCA published their report “Devalued – a decade of cuts to youth services” this week. It was based on the submissions sent in to the Department for Education.

Solution

XLP wants to continue to deliver its Community Bus over the next year. Beneficiaries of this project will be young people between the ages of 10-16yrs, from a wide variety of ethnicities, Each week our customised double decker community buses travels to East Village, Victory Park to provide a base for high-quality, long-term, consistent youth provision. This allows young people to access high quality youth work Sessions which last for 2 hours and take place at the same time each week to provide consistency. Through the variety of activities on the buses, we are able to form strong trusted relationships and encourage those who come to develop positive behaviours and life skills.

Why are we best placed to deliver?

• Firstly, XLP takes a holistic and long-term approach to working with young people: the youth workers who run the weekly bus sessions also work with the same young people in their schools, or through our arts, sports or mentoring projects, etc. • Secondly, the development of such consistent relationships with young people enables our youth workers to support those with poor school attendance, who are struggling educationally or are on the verge of exclusion from mainstream education. • Thirdly, by training and working with local volunteers, the community is being further skilled to deal with local issues as they arise.

Focus Areas

Delivery plan

Budget breakdown

Beneficiaries

65 people

Expected impact

The key outcomes and objectives for the project are to see young people find: A raised sense of self-worth and confidence, and the ability to set positive goals and work hard to achieve them• The self-discipline and determination to stay away from gang culture and criminality, to access support from other youth services, and to focus on a more positive future.We will measure and monitor these through a survey taken by our youth leaders, to monitor the “journey travelled” by our young people to ensure a supportive, lasting, and creative change. Last year, of all the young people we worked with in the community and mentored:• 70% demonstrated sustained and improved well-being and control• 77% demonstrated improved resilience and ownership of their decisions• 97% demonstrated sustained and improved educational engagement

Track record

XLP’s longstanding engagement with the East Village Community and Chobham Academy. XLP collaborates with other community organisations such as E20 Football Foundation, ‘The Hall and D-Lab studios to ensure that it is a community led programme. XLP provided support outside of school which has been an invaluable help for those students with whom they have worked and I have noticed marked improvements in their confidence and self-esteem that they have attributed to the support provided for them by XLP. They provide support that is hugely important for our students and for young people in the wider community and I am not aware of any other organisation who provide such a high-quality provision. I wholeheartedly endorse the work that XLP do, and the staff who have worked with the school are consistently supportive, flexible and professional.

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