EALING’S council leader has vowed to reinstill a sense of hope in young people and reduce youth and gang violence with the help of a £285,000 government grant.
Councillor Julian Bell said the money will be used to work with young offenders, those susceptible to fall into a life of crime and their families.
Ealing was one of 22 areas across the country chosen this week to receive the cash injection to help with issues relating to the August disorder.
Mr Bell pointed out that the majority of rioters were adults and from outside the borough, and Ealing Police has been working hard to target and rehabilitate known gang members in the last few years.
The council aims to continue working with the police, youth offending teams and the probation service to make ‘targeted interventions’.
He said: “We’ve had the wake up of the riots. We will use the money to make sure it won’t happen again and work with young people who are vulnerable to becoming involved in crime.
“We want to get them into jobs, education or training and give them a stake in society so they don’t feel this complete loss of hope, feeling they’ve got nothing to lose so they’ll just go and smash the town up.”
A key part of this is working with families to reinstill a sense of belonging and ideals.
Onkar Singh Ghatore, a youth worker in Southall for nearly 20 years, thinks a meeting should be held with community groups to discuss how the money is spent.
“I think it should go towards working with young people in primary and junior schools to reach the root of the cause before it starts,” he said.
Offenders should be given a second chance to become part of the community again, he said, adding: “We must remember every person has a glow inside them. Sometimes it blows out but the candle can be relit.”
Detective Inspector Sarah Pearce said the funding will bolster the important work her teams are already achieving.
“We are seeing some real successes from our work with young people with year on year reductions in youth violence across the borough,” she said. “We’ll continue with our work alongside our partners to develop long-term solutions.”
