Choose life, not gangs

We know that some people in Westminster are concerned about gangs and serious youth violence. And we are doing something about it.

We are also delivering a youth and community led campaign in partnership with Inclusion which encourages young people to make the right choice, avoiding gangs, peer pressure and violence. To visit the campaign website whichpathwillyouchoose.com click here.

Our Your Choice programme helps divert young people from becoming involved in gangs, as well as support existing members as they prepare to leave a gang.

Gangs and violence: Know the signs and how to prevent it

As a parent or guardian, there are things you can do to help prevent your child from getting involved in gangs and violence, as well as things you can look out for to identify if they are already involved, or at risk of becoming involved.

Download our advice booklet below, or view the information online here.

Your Choice

Our Your Choice programme brings together teams from the council, the Metropolitan Police, the Probation Service and the voluntary sector, to support young people aged 10 to 24 who are gang involved or are on the periphery of gangs. The teams also work with neighbouring boroughs to tackle cross border gang violence.

Through early intervention, quick time information sharing and promoting personal responsibility the programme allows young people to make a real choice - to take up the services on offer and become upstanding members of our community, or to face a range of enforcement options.

Your Choice programme includes:

• Support for young people to exit gangs and stop offending

• Help for young people to get into employment

• Working with schools to prevent young children getting into gangs

• Support for gang affected families through our flagship Family Recovery Programme

• Specialist workers to support and work with young women affected by gangs

• A range of enforcement options for people who choose to persist in a life of crime

• Training for young people involved in gangs to become peer mediators so they can mediate conflict themselves.

For more information email: integratedgangsunit@westminster.gov.uk

Youth Secure Streets

The council and the Centre for Economic and Social Inclusion are working in partnership to deliver Youth Secure Streets (YUS), a project aimed at reducing serious youth violence and gang involvement in local communities. YUS is funded by the European Commission’s Justice Department (Daphne programme). The project is being delivered in three EU cities, London, Pescara (Italy) and Cordoba (Spain), and is supporting the ‘Your Choice programme and involves the local community and young people in creating a series of community actions and a publicity campaign.

Abdul, 17 from Queens Park who has been involved in the campaign said “Some of us have experienced gangs so we know what to say. The message we came up with is that you can choose your own destination. We want people to think: where will I be in five years time and how will the choices I make now affect my life?”

Visit the campaign website www.whichpathwillyouchoose.com