Archive
| Hackney Schools Mentoring
Programme match police |
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Last year was a groundbreaking year for the Hackney Schools Mentoring
Programme. Not only did ELBA extend its support to a mega 505
Year 10 Hackney school children, representing a 33% increase in
the coverage from 2003, but it also recruited 284 schools mentors
from its member companies – demonstrating a 32% uplift in
the number of volunteers involved in comparison to the year before.
Special thanks go to Aon, Learning Trust, Allen & Overy, Freshfields,
Renaisi, UBS, ING, City of London Police, CMS Cameron McKenna,
JP Morgan, City & Hackney Teaching Primary Care Trust and
Homerton University Hospital.
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| Hackney youngsters check out the City of
London Police’s motorbikes whilst contemplating a career
in policing. |
Like all things ELBA, once we’re established in an area
we are keen to further our involvement. The HSMP team has recently
linked a group of volunteers from the City of London Police with
students from Homerton Boys Technology College in Hackney.
The scheme was launched in conjunction with the Corporation of
London at Wood St Police Station in the Autumn of last year. This
allowed a group of Hackney Boys a unique chance to have a look
round the station, get their fingerprints taken and, under strict
supervision, have a go on police motorbikes! A good time was had
by all, and in the words of one student on his way home afterwards,
“it was serious man, serious!”
The mentoring scheme is based around a series of workshops taking
place fortnightly over a six-month period. Most of the workshops
are discussion based which allows the youngsters to be open about
their views. Topics for discussion include the role of the police,
youth crime and street violence, anti social behaviour orders,
and Stop and Search. It is pleasing to note that all the students
participating on the scheme contributed their thoughts to the
Hackney Guns, Knives and Gangs Problem Solving Day at The Town
Hall in late November. This work is well underway now and future
sessions will include more general advice on personal development
and careers.
Many of the mentors are members of the Black Police Officers
Association, led by Richie Boyce of the Technology Support Unit.
As well as helping to raise students’ aspirations and providing
opportunities for them to visit the City and see the kind of jobs
that are available in the police force, one of the things the
volunteers hope to achieve is to improve young people’s
perceptions of the police and to encourage them, particularly
students from minority ethnic backgrounds, to think about police
careers as a pathway for themselves.
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| Hackney Schools Mentoring Programme Team |
In a culturally rich and diverse Borough like Hackney there is
a real need for the police to build strong relationships with
all sections of the community and this mentoring scheme is an
ideal way of doing just that.
Stuart Feakins Programme Manager says:
"We are very excited about this scheme and we have high
hopes that the pilot will help develop strong links between the
police and young people in Hackney. Initial feedback from students
and mentors has already been very positive and gives us great
potential to expand and develop the scheme in the future."
