Sadiq Khan hails progress made by his £34m mentoring programme

Evening Standard

The £34 million package was said by City Hall to be the most ever invested by any UK city in providing mentors and aims to reduce youth violence.

Transcript

00:00 I know from personal experience the difference a mentor makes in relation to fulfilling potential.

00:04 We also know unfortunately there's around 100,000 young Londoners that could be seen

00:09 at home with domestic violence, that could be in danger of being excluded if not already

00:14 excluded, they could be living in poverty, they could be somebody who's just left a young

00:19 offender's institution, who haven't got that adult relationship that can provide a really

00:23 positive role model.

00:25 The evidence we have from the 150 projects we're funding and 50,000 of the young people

00:31 have been through the process now, finished the process, another 20,000 are currently

00:36 in the process of having the mentor support.

00:39 We've seen the quality difference and the quantity of difference it's made in relation

00:42 to better mental health, better relationships, doing constructive things, either being in

00:48 training or in a job.

00:49 So we know it makes a difference in relation to people fulfilling their potential.

00:54 We passionately believe in the difference prevention and early intervention can make

00:58 in relation to youth violence.

01:00 So since the VRU was set up, England's first in 2019, we have seen a reduction in young

01:05 people being injured with knife crime, we've seen a reduction in teenage homicides, a reduction

01:10 in homicides, a reduction in burglary, and also since 2019 a reduction in robbery as

01:16 well.

01:17 So we think that there's a link between the prevention and early intervention and the

01:20 reduction in those sorts of crimes.

01:21 And what does this, I mean, if a young person is given a mentor, what does that consist

01:25 of?

01:26 Do they see them how regularly every week?

01:27 Can it vary?

01:28 One of the things that we were keen to do when we first embarked on this journey was

01:32 to make sure there's good quality mentoring.

01:34 And so the process is rather than us re-running the wheel, we ask those who already do this

01:39 sort of stuff to apply.

01:41 We make sure they satisfy our standards in relation to being a good mentor.

01:44 So we do the relevant checks to make sure those checks are done in relation to safeguarding.

01:49 We also make sure they understand what we expect the mentoring to take place.

01:53 That could be as much or as little as the mentee wants.

01:55 It could be a phone call once a week.

01:57 It could be a phone call three times a day.

01:59 It could be face-to-face.

02:00 It could be Teams or Zooms or virtual.

02:03 The key thing is you want somebody who can give you advice when you need it, but also

02:07 provide proactive support as well.

02:09 And I've spoken to some of the mentees today.

02:11 They tell me that their mentor is always available.

02:15 There's no end point in relation to that relationship, which is fantastic.

02:18 And I spoke to a mentor today who told me he used to be a mentee.

02:22 So it's a good example of a virtuous circle.

02:24 Somebody who received support previously, but is able to provide support and get some

02:28 wage for doing so.

02:29 Your target is to get to 100,000 mentors by the end of the year.

02:32 We've got the election first.

02:33 Do you hope that whoever may succeed you in May will carry on this programme?

02:38 Well, let me be quite clear.

02:39 I've got no confidence at all.

02:41 If I don't win the election and the Tory wins this programme and many other programmes will

02:45 continue.

02:46 I've got no confidence.

02:47 I don't have council homes being built.

02:48 I've got no confidence the first freeze would carry on in the future.

02:51 I've got no confidence the free school meals would carry forward in the future.

02:54 I've got no confidence the VIU would carry on in the future, let alone the mentoring

02:58 scheme.

02:59 It's incredibly important.

03:00 Londoners understand it's going to be a close election on May 2nd.

03:02 It's a two-horse race, I say in a respectful way to my friends in the Green Party and the

03:06 Lib Dems.

03:07 Only two people could be the mayor after May 2nd.

03:10 That's my Tory opponent or myself.

03:12 I'm passionate about leading this.

03:14 I've seen the difference mentoring makes.

03:16 But also I've met some brilliant organisations like this one today and I'd be devastated

03:21 if this work stopped because I didn't win the election on May 2nd.

03:23 [BLANK_AUDIO]

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