SUPPORT ACTION4YOUTH - HELP RAFFI
Help young people like Raffi escape a life of drugs and crime
Help young people like Raffi
For young people affected by gang culture and peer pressure, it is easy to fall into the trap of selling and using drugs, carrying knives and becoming disruptive.
Raffi was just 9 years old when he first started carrying a knife. He wanted to be like his older cousin who was cool, had lots of money and many friends. Raffi’s cousin was part of a gang who were selling drugs within the local community. It appeared a fast-track way to earn enough money to buy anything a young teenager needed. Hanging around the gang was Raffi’s best chance of emulating his cousin, but it didn’t work out as he expected.
After being accepted in the gang, Raffi gradually developed a disruptive manner which caught the attention of his teachers at school. After many warnings for bad behaviour towards fellow classmates and his teachers, he eventually was caught and reprimanded for carrying a knife.
At risk of exclusion, he was referred to Action4Youth’s Breakout Programme which taught him about being part of a team, not a gang. It taught about the real consequence of knives and stabbings and taught him there was a different way of achieving all he wanted in life.
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Your support can help us provide specific intervention for young people like Raffi
Action4Youth is here for every child and young person, regardless of background or ability. We work to ensure that all have the chance to enter adulthood as positive, confident members of the community. No–one should be abandoned, neglected, deprived of hope, opportunity or aspiration.
For young people like Raffi, we can provide 1:1 mentoring and support which help him make better life choices, like the benefits of being part of a team and not a gang, or the consequences of selling drugs.
Support when it is needed most
- Our Breakout Programme aimed at young people on the cusp of exclusion, can educate someone like Raffi on the dangers of knife crime and gang related crime; to learn new skills and gain accreditations; and to keep them in mainstream education whenever possible.
- Our youth mentoring programme can deliver crucial support, encouragement and guidance to young people needing that extra help. Young people get direct interaction with a mentor on a 1:1 basis which is proven to generate the best results with trust-based relationships.
- Our Inspiration Programme is a life changing, aspiration raising, and inspiring 1 year programme which can broaden the horizons, thinking and experience of young people.
2 ways you can help
It doesn't have to be this way - please help young people like Raffi
Every young person deserves support and intervention when they find themselves falling into a life of crime. For young people like Raffi who are young and impressionable, this extra help can make the difference for their own safety, and their futures. Please help the young people in our community by donating or fundraising for Action4Youth.
Jenifer Cameron, CEO, Action4Youth
