ITV News London spotlight on funding London’s youth workers
03 August 2021
Building on the momentum of last Friday’s funding announcement for London’s youth sector, we wanted to celebrate one of our Rise Up programme participants and her member organisation, Immediate Theatre, who featured on ITV London News.
Immediate Theatre provides inspiring participatory theatre programmes across Hackney and East London. Last Friday they were running one of their free “Breakout 2021” summer holiday programme for young children, offering drama and games. An ITV London news crew captured young children engaging in a performance and speaking of how these activities contributed to their confidence and resilience, including in managing challenging domestic situations.
The causes of violent crime are extremely complex and involve deep-seated problems like poverty, inequality, social alienation. Today we’ve announced a £5 million package to boost youth work in London and support communities in tackling violence. @ITVLondon pic.twitter.com/IsfF8IWtrs
— Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan (@MayorofLondon) July 30, 2021
Kyarna, their Youth Drama Assistant, and a Rise Up participant, was interviewed for the profile piece. She provided some great context to the environment in which youth organisations are operating, and highlighted that there are still too many young people in the city who feel neglected and do not have access to a safe space.
The news item was a follow-up to the Mayor of London’s Violence Reduction Unit’s funding uplift, announced by the Mayor on Friday. This included a further tranche of £1.1 million funding for further specialist training for up to 200 youth workers. We have welcomed this announcement and the wider initiatives with a quote from our CEO, Rosemary Watt-Wyatt.
Clare MacNamara, Policy Manager, London Youth.
