Solutions to gang crime nurtured by Oasis approach

Mentoring, nurturing talent and Churches committed to building dedicated, youth-focussed teams were some of the solutions that came out of God, Guns, Gangs, a conference for urban youth workers held on Saturday at The Oasis Centre in London.

Youth workers and church leaders listened to young people with backgrounds in urban culture and together discussed what would divert young people from youth violence and gangs. Many of the suggestions are already being put into practice through Oasis.

Keynote speaker, Leroy Logan, who was awarded an MBE for his work as a police officer in developing community and race relations, said the faith sector must be part of the solution.

He urged churches to "know young people’s culture, understand what media are influencing them. Get out there and find the talent in young people and nurture it. Let young people know they can change their environment – they don’t have to become part of it".

Steve Chalke, founder of Oasis Global added: "Crime reduction should never be the sole motivation for giving your time to developing young people – they need to feel they belong, that they are in community.

"At Oasis we have developed a series of hubs around the country where successful initiatives for young people can easily be replicated. Like Southside radio in Waterloo that, during the four weeks it ran last summer, the local police confirmed that youth crime dropped significantly in SE1."

Mark Prince, whose son, Kiyan was stabbed to death in London in 2006, said: "The magic number is one – the solutions start with us as individuals. We need to stop blaming others, whoever ‘others’ are. We need to step up ourselves and start being better role models to young people."

Simon Hughes, MP for North Southwark and Bermondsey, said: "From primary school, every youngster should have a mentor who has something in common with them, whether computers or sport, who stays with them until secondary school so they build up an association with that person.

"They will be like an extra parent, supporter or god-parent. Secondly, from the age of 14 it’s really important that young people start to do some sort of real work experience, because they may have come from a family where the parents don’t work at all and this can really change their outlook."

The day closed with all delegates committing to sharing ideas and collaborating in closer working relationships to help put some of these suggestions into practice.