Young people could see their lives transformed after the 'Haringey Community Gold' project was officially launched in the London borough.
Haringey has been awarded £1.5million from the Mayor of London's Young Londoners Fund and is the biggest amount of funding across the capital.
The scheme, that will run for the next three-years, is designed to support local young people and will include a network of detached youth work and community programmes to help those at risk of exclusion to fulfil their potential and avoid getting caught up in crime.
Nine programmes have been set up in Haringey and will range from sport provision, employment support and a future leaders programme to mental health support and a BAME careers service.
The Exodus project is among those mentioned and focuses on knife crime and gangs and is a 12-week rolling programme for 12 to 21-year olds.
Over 30 youngsters attended the big launch at Tottenham Enterprise Centre and were able to ask questions and hear from individuals who have been affected by criminality including one teenager who has seen his life transformed after going through the Exodus programme.
Both local and national media attended as the project officially got underway and hopes to attract a number of youngsters over the coming weeks and months.
Councillor Mark Blake, Cabinet Member for Communities, Safety and Engagement, said: “This is a great initiative for the borough and Haringey Council are putting a lot of resource into our youngsters and reducing the amount of youth violence that is taking place.
“We need investment to address this serious issue and I hope this is just the start of putting strong measures in place to help our youngsters get the support they need.”
Organiser of the Exodus group, Adrian Osei Adams, said: “This is our opportunity to demonstrate how Exodus can make a significant difference to people’s lives. We now have the resources to directly help our youngsters in the local community.”
