More than 10,500 extra young Londoners have been able to join uniformed groups like the Girl Guides and Sea Cadets thanks to the success of a major drive by the Mayor of London to recruit 1,000 new adult volunteers.
The Mayor Boris Johnson today hailed a key Team London initiative, YOU Matter, which has beaten its original target to increase the number of adult volunteers working with uniformed youth groups, benefiting many more young Londoners.
The Mayor provided £1.3m for YOU Matter, which was launched last year, because 8,000 youngsters were missing out on the opportunity to join uniformed groups due to a lack of adult volunteers.
The volunteering scheme is run by the Safer London Foundation, working in partnership with eight uniformed groups: Air Cadets; Army Cadets; Boy's Brigade; Community Fire Cadets; Girl's Brigade; Girlguiding; Sea Cadets; St John Ambulance; and Volunteer Police Cadets.
It is due to run until March 2014 and has already recruited 1,304 adult volunteers, beating the initial target by almost a third. It means over 25 per cent more young Londoners than originally planned can already take part in regular weekly activities at uniformed groups.
54 new training units have been set up across London, half of which are in 12 boroughs with areas of high deprivation and where young people at risk of being excluded from education, training or employment.
The Mayor of London Boris Johnson said: 'I am thrilled by the success of this great scheme. Too often our youngsters are unable to join uniformed groups simply because of a lack of adult volunteers. They offer young people an unbeatable opportunity to develop vital skills, discipline and personal responsibility, vital assets as they become adults and get set for the world of work. The numbers already achieved by YOU Matter and our other Team London schemes shows how willing Londoners are to give up some of their time and help their community.'
To mark Volunteers' Week, which runs until 7 June, Team London YOU Matter volunteers will attend a reception at the Guildhall this evening hosted by the City of London Corporation. It is being organised to recognise and celebrate the contribution of adult volunteers from across YOU London organisations in delivering the Queen's Diamond Jubilee events and London Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2012.
Rena Sodhi, Chief Executive of Safer London Foundation said: 'The success of YOU Matter is proof that adult volunteering is alive and kicking in London. Giving young people the opportunity and encouragement to try new activities can be very empowering for them. And building confidence and learning new skills can stand them in good stead as they negotiate their way through life. We are incredibly proud to be the YOU Matter lead charity, working closely with the uniformed groups and look forward to building on this success over the next year.'
Deputy Mayor for Policing Stephen Greenhalgh will also be marking Volunteers' Week when he attends the official launch of the inaugural Junior Volunteer Police Cadet Programme at the Chestnut Community Centre in Tottenham on Thursday 6 June.
The programme will assist to build positive relationships between the police and young people aged 10-13 years old. It will primarily be led by senior Volunteer Police Cadets who have been coached and trained in mentoring and leadership, to provide positive and legitimate role models to their younger peers.
Deputy Mayor for Policing Stephen Greenhalgh said: 'It is inspiring that so many young Londoners want to volunteer and to become Met Police Cadets. These young volunteers have a vital part to play in providing positive role models for their peers and helping the local police to engage with children and teenagers at the same time'
The main barrier to young people joining uniformed groups is the lack of adult volunteers.
For information about how to become a uniformed group volunteer, and other opportunities through the Mayor's Team London volunteering programme, go to www.london.gov.uk/teamlondon.
Notes to editors
1. Team London is the Mayor’s ambitious programme to mobilise an army of volunteers across the capital to improve life in London through programmes that will reduce crime, increase opportunities for youth and improve quality of life by cleaning and greening London and building stronger neighbourhoods. For more information visit the website www.london.gov.uk/teamlondon.
2. Team London funded by the Reuben Foundation in 2011, delivered a number of programmes including planting trees across London, IT Skills for the elderly and mentoring young readers.
3. It was inspired by Mayor Bloomberg's Cities of Service model. Cities of Service was founded by Mayor Bloomberg and 16 other mayors from across the United States to help them leverage citizen service strategies to address local needs and make local government more effective, Cities of Service builds on the success of the initiative in New York City (www.nycservice.org.uk). The coalition now includes more than 100 mayors representing nearly 50 million Americans.
4. Team London YOU Matter is part of Project Titan, one of the six strands of the Mayor’s Time for Action plan published in November 2008. Titan looks to tackle serious youth crime, by equipping young people for the future in order to prevent and reduce the propensity to get involved in crime.
5. Boroughs with areas of high deprivation are Barking and Dagenham, Brent, Croydon, Hackney, Haringey, Islington, Lambeth, Lewisham, Newham, Southwark, Tower Hamlets and Waltham Forest.
6. The Safer London Foundation is the Met Police's official charity and was established in 2005. Its vision is for London to be a safer city and for everyone living and working in the capital to feel safe and be safe. It develops and delivers projects, campaigns and activities that engage with young Londoners and inspires those involved in crime or at risk of violence and crime to feel empowered, recognise they have choices and so can build productive lives free from criminal behaviour. It supports the delivery of the Met Police's key aims of preventing and reducing crime, particularly serious youth violence and violence against young women and girls and works across London as well as in priority boroughs and wards. The charity also works in partnership with the Greater London Authority, national Government, local authorities, voluntary sector groups, London Probation Trust, Youth Offending Teams, schools and a wide variety of community groups. For more information visit www.saferlondonfoundation.org