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Moving On London

Working Links are currently delivering the Moving On project which will provide educational, training and employment assistance to offenders and ex-offenders in London. As part of the Moving On project additional support will be allocated to veterans and gang members. In September 2011 the project, in partnership with the Damilola Taylor Trust, launched its first pilot programme concentrating on gang members.

The OCN (Open College Network) accredited programme which is jointly funded by the National Offender Management Service Co-financing Organisation and the European Social Fund aims to deliver a 30 hour interactive personal development programme for at least 40 young men and women aged between 16 and 25 who are involved in gang related activity.

The course has been created in partnership with Whitney Iles, who also delivers it. Whitney is a social entrepreneur and community activist who for the last nine years has actively sought out people and projects that have enabled her to make a difference. She is vice-chair of Equanomics UK, a founding member of the Spirit of London Awards (SOLA) Foundation and also co-founder of NoSexWithOutLove which is a movement established to promote community development with a primary focus on young women.

Each individual programme session explores the participant’s personal identity and the role they play in society, and will provide the skills and tools needed to become successful members of the community and gain a great understanding of the impact of gangs and gang relations. The objectives of this project are to:

• provide a creative and safe platform for young people to explore their thoughts and think about their future
• supply legal information on the rights and responsibilities young people have; and
• provide participants with strategies to minimise or eliminate future negative involvement in gangs.

The first pilot was launched in Feltham Young Offenders Institute over a four week period and achieved a range of outcomes for the six people that attended, including improved attitudinal, motivational and personal skills, and it also helped the participants to develop a true sense of self worth and a sense of control over their own destiny. This is what some of the boys had to say…

The Moving On London team are continuing to work with the participants, offering support and opportunities with education, training and employment in the community, and they want to train these young people to become peer mentors and help facilitate future courses. They are also currently planning to deliver two more courses, again in Feltham for 16 to 17 year old males, and in HMP Holloway for a group of women prisoners.

The team are now busy going through the final implementation stages for the Moving On London contract which goes live in January. The aim of this contract is to reduce re-offending through employment. Working in both custody and the community, the Moving On London team will be supporting participants with a range of services including accommodation, education, training and employment. But the team aren’t waiting for January before they get to work on changing lives as they’ve already succeeded in placing their first person into work. Hartley Wilkinson, Case Manager, is already working with participants transferring back into London after custodial sentences, and through his hard work he has managed to secure a work placement for one of our customers at Debenhams.

Chris McCann, Performance Manager for Moving On London, says: “It is fantastic to see all of the team’s hard work come to fruition. What is most pleasing about this first outcome is that through Hartley’s relationship with Debenhams he has been able to assure the employer to employ an ex-offender despite their initial concerns. Well done Hartley!’’