Urban Digital Mentor Project (#staysafesaysound)

The Salam Project are a cultural youth and community social enterprise who work in anti-youth crime. They work in the fields of knife crime, county lines, drug abuse, offending / re-offending extremism / radicalisation and permanent exclusion.

Due to the lockdown in March 2020, calls increased from parents, schools, carers, probation services, youth offending teams and social services. The Salam Project works predominantly in London (L.B. Brent L.B. Lambeth, L.B. Southwark, L.B. Lewisham, L.B. Haringey etc.) and Manchester (Longsight, Moss Side, Ardwick & Gorton) The Salam Project team have been involved with mentoring young people with various issues digitally. This means, they have been mentoring via Zoom, Skype, FaceTime, WhatsApp Video or GoogleHangouts.

Due to most of their clients are from African and African Caribbean communities the young people are from London and Manchester predominantly. All of The Salam Project’s mentors are of African and Afro Caribbean heritage. Who are also professionals and business entrepreneurs too.

All of the mentees are from African and Afro Caribbean heritage. Unfortunately many of the young people have issues with county lines, gangs, underachievement, drug addictionlow self esteem and depression.

Ismael Le South (Director of The Salam Project) says ‘The stats blatantly shows that Black youths are disproportionately permanently excluded from school, locked up in prison, wrongly diagnosed with special education needs disabilities, filling up the mental health asylums and this skunk is destroying our youth. We have to also mention that Black youths are over represented in knife crime and county lines too.

We could either moan all day or do something about it.’ He goes on further to say ‘As a youth worker and a British born Black man of African /Afro Caribbean heritage, I am honoured to work with 15 other inspiring people who are mentoring with me. The mentors got safeguarding /child protection training from The Faiths Forum. The mentor training was supplied by The Mentor Workshop. They are now getting requests from pupil referral units, schools, faith institutions, foster care facilities and mental health hubs.

The national lottery’s community fund is supporting the project. Some of the mentors are also tutoring too.

After the funding is finished in March they will be charging parents and organisations to keep their project sustainable.

The Salam Project? (Promo video) – YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I_6S6B7lL-0

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