Third anniversary for award-winning gangs project

The project is a groundbreaking scheme working with young offenders serving prison sentences for gang-related crimes.  It has also recently broken the 150-milestone in the number of clients it has helped.

Uniquely, the SOS Gangs Project was conceived and run entirely by ex-offenders trained and employed by the Trust as caseworkers.  It aims to help young offenders break down the cycle of re-offending through offering practical support by trained mentors who are themselves ex-offenders who have managed to turn their lives around.

Under the scheme, young offenders are offered training and mentoring while still in custody, and following their release are given support and encouragement in breaking with their old lifestyle and associates, and in establishing a new identity away from crime. Meanwhile, they are assisted with issues such as housing, employment and training.

Out of the 150 clients worked with, only 12 have subsequently re-offended. This is against a national average re-offending rate of approximately 70 per cent for this age group.

As ex-offenders, SOS Caseworkers are singularly well-placed to gain the trust and respect of the young offenders they work with, and to empathise with their clients' backgrounds and the difficulties they face. As trained mentors, they offer intensive and tailored support to each individual, while through their own first hand experience of custody and offending, they act as impartial, non-authoritarian figures who understand exactly where their clients are coming from.

The SOS Project potentially offers a massive saving to society in terms of court and custody costs, and in terms of the human misery saved through preventing further crime.  By helping stabilise young people's lives and supporting them in breaking old ties, the project has the wider effect of destalibilising the gangs.

Junior Smart, Team Leader who conceived and developed the SOS Project, said: "When I first set up SOS as an entirely ex-offender led service, the concept was unheard of.  There were deep misgivings amongst some who thought we'd just be linking up with the gangs and getting involved with crime.  But St Giles Trust had faith, and as for the re-offending rates, the figures speak for themselves."

The project has grown from a pilot to employing five permanent members of staff along with five volunteers.

A small celebration event was held at Kings College on the Strand on 1 October.