Switch180 join the Mayor of London’s Sport and Serious Youth Violence Steering Group 

Last week we were asked to join the Mayor of London’s inaugural meeting of his Sport and Serious Youth Violence Steering Group.

The steering group consists of representatives from 20 organisations the Mayor has previously funded through his Young Londoners Fund Sport Unites programme. Each of these organisations also selected a young person involved in their work to join the group. Our founder, Dan Charlish and our young person, Uche Nebuwa represented Switch180. Uche will have an equal seat at the table and will play a key role in coordinating the work of the group, as well as sharing his own insight and experiences of being a victim of knife crime. The steering group is the first of its kind in the sport sector. It will bring together London community sports experts to help identify causes, share best practice, and propose solutions to serious youth violence. 

The work undertaken by the group forms part of the Mayor’s package of measures tackling the scourge of youth violence in the capital, which includes the announcement that more than £1m of funding will be made available to sports groups supporting young Londoners at risk of exclusion or getting involved in violence and criminal activity. 

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, said: “I have seen first-hand the unique power of sport to engage young people and help them to turn their lives around. 

“The organisations that I have brought together today are already making a huge difference to the lives of thousands of young people in our city, which is why I am providing a further £1.1m of funding to help even more sports projects provide positive, meaningful activities to help young people make the right choices in life. 

“Serious violent incidents involving young Londoners is down by nearly 20 per cent compared to last year, but we cannot be complacent. We know that to tackle violent crime, we must be tough on the causes of crime. I am doing all that I can on this from City Hall, but we urgently need Government to reverse cuts to youth clubs, schools and local services – or risk failing a generation.”