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Youth work is essential in fight against ‘gang culture’ and the threat of knives
• AT Monday’s Police Consultative Group the police reported on the “good news” about driving down crime.
On youth violent crime it was rightly stated that Camden had escaped the worst excesses of neighbouring boroughs.
However, this is more by good management by the police and youth workers in community centres than good luck.
The police need to be congratulated on their efforts in working with young people and community centres to prevent crime as well as their efforts to stop young people carrying weapons.
Unfortunately some local papers, not I hasten to add the New Journal, continue to fan the flames of fear among residents by talking about “Haverstock Hell”.
Even worse on September 9 the usually objective BBC Newsnight programme ran a 10-minute “feature” (Living on a knife edge) purporting to expose the terrors of knife-carrying young people in a clearly identified Queen’s Crescent.
In fact many of the hooded and masked people speaking to camera did not come from Queen’s Crescent and there was no reporting on the active programme of youth work at Queen’s Crescent Community Centre, some of it with the police, to prevent knife crime.
Over the summer Queen’s Crescent Community Centre with its partner GOAL put on a series of programmes for young people which helped to develop their skills in music and creative arts and a range of other activities. Perhaps the culmination of this was some 15 young people who gained their first aid certificate thus allowing them to help others. None of this was reported.
Such sensationalised local and national reporting is irresponsible as it contributes to the fear of crime.
Although Camden Council provided financial support for some of our summer programme it has refused, for the last two years, to fund us for ongoing universal youth work.
We see such work as essential in stopping young people becoming involved in the gang cultures which pervade other boroughs.
We are not alone in having funding refused as the closure of the Jubilee youth centre, cuts to Castlehaven and Regent’s Park and withdrawal of funding to Highgate Newtown youth programmes clearly indicate.
Meetings of the Gospel Oak area forum and the Safer Neighbourhoods panel have all called vociferously for funding for youth work.
Such pleas appear to have fallen on the hearing-impaired ears of our supposedly “listening council” and our local councillors, although very supportive of this work seem powerless to bring about change.
At Queen’s Crescent Community Centre we are now having to turn away young people not only for lack of funding but for shortage of space. It is somewhat ironic that the council can send street wardens to Gospel Oak (presumably, among other things) to quell youth disorder but has failed to provide us with funds to help us prevent it in the first place.
MICK FARRANT
Chair QCCA Ltd, NW5
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