Ethos has entered into partnership with Thames Valley Police Violence Reduction Unit (TVVRU) to deliver bespoke employment as a means to divert young adults from poor life choices. The tailored work comes from a network of over 40 organisations including TVP and Ethos.
The pilot scheme, funded by the Home Office, is recruiting up to six young people from referring partners in the Thames Valley area – including probation, youth offending, education and the police’s own DIVERT strategy, which aims to move young people towards better life choices, as they deal with the realities of custody.
Working with around 20 other young people aged under 25 recruited via Ethos’s Young Leaders platform, the Thames Valley recruits are developing workshop activities and devising communications strategies to reach their peers with a more positive message.
The work programme includes:
- Assistance in delivering a “Hope Hack” which on 3 March 2022 at Reading’s Madejski Stadium to 80 young adults. (This event is part of The Hope Collective – a powerful partnership of leading cross-sector organisations with aligned values and a shared vision; to work together in a spirit of unity to create real change for young people and communities across the UK)
- Help to promote and deliver the Get Berkshire Active programme
- Assisting with presentation of communications material to the TV VRU stakeholder network
- Participating in the Young Leader online community – attending webinars from Google mentors
- Learning skills around remote project management working tools such as Click Up and social media
Rob Pye, Ethos VO CEO and founder said,
“We have been delighted with the support and interest we have received from our partners at Thames Valley Police and other local stakeholders such as Get Berkshire Active and the Hope Collective and their willingness to engage with our young people – to work collaboratively and equally with them on our platform.”
One of the participants is Farah Bashir, aged 21, who, despite his difficult start in life, feels very motivated to help other young people avoid the kind of life choices he made. He says,
“The first month was a bit confusing at first but I’ve got used to it now and know what to do at Ethos. If I need to do projects I can talk to my colleagues. I’m getting involved in meetings and speaking about what’s happening with young people. I’m building trust in Ethos, everyone has been great, friendly, with good energy. People are happy to help. RIght now I am helping youth coming away from the streets to be more productive.”
Young Leader, Joel Escayg, aged 25, is Farah’s work mentor, he says;
“Farah is full of energy and always willing and able to get involved and help Ethos and young people.”
Each individual young person engaged on the initiative is offered 6 months of employment, a work design based on their aptitudes and passions supported by a programme of ongoing mentoring (daily, weekly and monthly). Following their placement, the young people will be introduced into a network of local Thames Valley businesses actively engaged in providing pathways into work for local disadvantaged young people.
Young Leader, Joel Escayg, aged 25, is Farah’s work mentor, he says,
“Farah is full of energy and always willing and able to get involved and help Ethos and young people.”
Each individual young person engaged on the initiative is offered 6 months of employment, a work design based on their aptitudes and passions supported by a programme of ongoing mentoring (daily, weekly and monthly). Following their placement, the young people will be introduced into a network of local Thames Valley businesses actively engaged in providing pathways into work for local disadvantaged young people.
Stan Gilmour, Thames Valley VRU Director says,
“This is an exciting pilot project. In addition to the obvious reasons to fund more projects that create improved life-chances for young people, the economic case from a public purse perspective is strong. If we reduce Police workload by even a small amount by lowering the demand created by young adults the business case for this is significant. If you extend the figures to criminal justice, probation, healthcare, social care, education, housing, unemployment the numbers are staggering.”
Notes
The Thames Valley Violence Reduction Unit is part of the Government’s wider programme of work to prevent and reduce serious violence; taking a whole-system approach to understand the causes and consequences of serious violence, focused on prevention and early intervention. https://www.tvvru.co.uk/
Young Leaders
Young Leaders is an Ethos Work venture launched in response to the Covid emergency in 2020. The scheme offers remote training, development and workplace opportunities to anyone living anywhere in the UK, aged 16 – 24. https://www.ethosvo.org/project/young-leaders-kickstart/
Ethos VO is a social enterprise accelerator on a mission to find creative solutions to society’s complex problems. It supports social entrepreneurs to work collaboratively with a shared purpose for positive change that redefines growth and improves lives. https://www.ethosvo.org/