Watchman urges Christian men to mentor capital's challenging youth

David Williams, otherwise known as gospel reggae artist Watchman, is calling on Christian men to mentor some of London's most challenging young people.

Williams was recently appointed a national mentor by the Youth Offending Teams (YOTs) of the Five Borough Alliance (FBA), a coalition set up by the London boroughs of Croydon, Greenwich, Lambeth, Lewisham, and Southwark in 2006 to develop long-term, effective solutions for dealing with difficult young people.

He was awarded the title of national mentor due to the success he has experienced in mentoring thousands of young people in London during the past 10 years.

He commented, "I feel greatly honoured to be given the title of National Mentor, particularly when I think about my own personal journey. During my youth I was an insecure and angry young man who couldn't read or write, and was in and out of prison for various crimes.

"Following my conversion in 1992 I embarked on a journey towards spiritual and emotional wholeness and because of my own personal experience, I fully identify and empathise with the young people I work with, and I give them hope that it is possible to change, as I have gone through experiences similar to theirs and come out alright."

His organisation RAP (Reaching All People) Mentors has now embarked on a recruitment drive and is calling on men and responsible teenagers from within the Christian community to become mentors after he was contracted to run mentoring programmes for some of the most challenging young people aged between 11-18 years referred to him by the YOTs within the FBA.

The first recruitment drive in Croydon last Saturday attracted more than 180 men to hear how they could become RAP mentors and help positively change the life direction of some of the most challenging young people living within the FBA.

Williams is keen for his RAP Mentors programme to play a part in ending the postcode wars that occur between young people living in different areas.

"Although the young people we will work with have been deemed as very challenging, they will be on our programme because they have expressed a desire to change their lives," he said. "With this fact in mind, it would be great if Christian men desirous to help others would respond to this call to be RAP mentors so that they can play a part in positively impacting the lives of a young generation desperately in need of help, guidance and mentoring."