• HELPING school workers to spot pupils who may be involved in gang activity is just one way Barnardo’s new YouTurn project is working to tackle this difficult issue in London.

Our project workers know that to understand how and why a young person living in the capital may be drawn into gang culture and violent crime, we need to take a whole-community approach and look at different social and environmental factors.

Many of the young men and women that Barnardo’s will support in London have been presented with glamourised ideas of gangs from an early age, not least through the constant feed of imagery on social media.

The risk of death, violent injury or imprisonment is often much less visible to them than the fleeting riches and spoils that gang life seems to promise.

Some may grow up in unstable situations with a lack of positive role models. Some may feel they have few opportunities for employment or training, mistaking criminal activity as a means to an end. Others may be exploited, bullied or pressured into situations over which they have no control.

Thanks to funding from the National Lottery, we can work with these young people to recognise and build on their own unique talents, achievements and ambitions, helping to shift their focus away from negative experiences and life choices and towards a more positive future.

LYNN GRADWELL
Director
Barnardo’s London