Be practical in whatever we do and let God’s light shine on us. Unity is strength. Let us work in teams and together we stand to support one another.

Why the youths needs our help and support?

• Our Black Youths face complex challenges more pronounced than elsewhere in the UK. Young people are talented, committed and incredibly resourceful despite the challenges they face. London is the most unequal place to live in the UK and the lack of a level playing field impacts on children and young people more than other age groups. Blacks are paid less than white counter parts. Their income is below the minimum income standard. Yet housing costs, inflation and cost of living continues to climb, making it harder for young people to live independently and many fears they’ll get priced out and won’t be able to live in the capital as adults. And finding full time employment remains a challenge with unemployment in UK with two and a half times higher for 16–24-year-olds than for 35-64s. The number of young people from black and minority ethnic backgrounds who have been unemployed for more than a year has risen by almost 60% since 2010. This is the reason why some decide to gang up for self-defence. This will NOT work. Let us use LOVE to overcome evil. Love covers iniquity..
• All of this is taking its role on our young people’s resilience and well-being. We are seeing that young people’s struggles with emotional wellbeing and mental health are at record levels. And this is even more profound amongst young people in London over UK. In 2015/17, 1 in 8 (18.5%) 15-year-olds in London, Birmingham, Manchester and Liverpool reported a low life satisfaction among our youths. The rate of children aged 7-25 years being admitted to hospital for mental health illnesses is higher in London than the rest of the country.
• The organisations which used to work to support young people with these challenges are still facing further threats to their future. Council cuts to youth services have led to closure of youth organisations in some areas and further cuts are likely to have the same impact. Meanwhile, for these organisations there has been a shift in the type of funding available towards heavily targeted programmes. There has been a general trend away from funding universal, open access provision. The effect is two-fold: a lack of early help for young people whose needs may not be immediately obvious or who may not meet intervention criteria; and fewer opportunities for you.