Community Programmes
2001 - Present
Our Community-based work is run out of the Underground Youth Centre. Situated between Caledonian Road and Highbury & Islington stations in Islington, north London, it is a safe space where our young people can supplement the quality of their home life. For those who are harder to reach and live their lives on the streets, our outreach street team that leaves the Underground three nights per week to let them know that Prospex is there for them.
The Problem
Many of the children who use our centre have neither the life skills needed to thrive as adults, nor the adequate space within which to learn them. That's why they and their parents come to Prospex to develop as individuals. For others, Prospex is a place from which they can escape boredom, while learning new life skills and gaining important social interactions. Whilst seemingly a small problem, we believe in ensuring that young people have activities to enjoy and a safe place in which to enjoy them.
Our Approach
The Underground is open for young people aged 8 to 21. During term time, we are available every day of the week to support diverse local children. From providing a space to play pool and table tennis, to helping young people engage with their mental health, to having new experiences.
Once a week, we offer an empowerment session for girls. Prospex is keen to ensure that the young women leaving our service are confident and aware of the importance of independence.
We also understand the importance of supplementing a quality of life that isn’t available at home for some of our attending young people. So we invest heavily in electronics materials, like a state-of-the-art recording studio, in the Underground Youth Centre. Further to this, every Christmas, our staff provide Christmas hampers to the families that could use that extra bit of help to make that time of the year more memorable.
Our work in the community is underpinned by the belief that we are always on call and our doors are always open to parents, young people and their teachers.
2018 Outcomes
1926
Meals served to young people
61
Girls Empowerment
Workshops
16
given one-to-one support
Community Projects
These are just a few of the projects we've got running at any given time. For a comprehensive list, contact info@prospex.org.uk
Street Teams
Many young people in Islington live their lives on the streets, refusing to attend school and maintaining an irregular home life. Prospex’s street work targets young people who have disengaged from their families, local authorities and wider society.
Our experienced Street Team provide young people with a point of contact to the support they need and a way to access positive activities, life skills, well-being support, role models, and information that could allow them to move forward from the traumas that have resulted in them being on London’s streets.
By actively focusing on parts of the Islington where anti-social behaviour is regularly reported, not only are we supporting our young people to be productive members of society, we are aiding in creating a safer community for all.
One to One Support
Many of the young people we work with, have acute needs that are difficult to support in a group environment. We only take young people who self-refer for this support as they are usually more receptive to the interventions we suggest. Lasting six months to a year, One-2-One Support is where we see young people make real steps forward in their development.
The length of the intervention enables us to tailor our support to the needs of each young person, working through areas of individual development such as anger management, antagonist relationships with authority, family relationships, sexual exploitation, low self-esteem, bullying and school exclusion.
Gender Workshops
Our young people often live with issues that relate to their gender. We provide gender-specific groups that encourage behaviours which tackle toxic masculinity and empower women through conversations on body confidence. In these groups, we also tackle the at-times uncomfortable topic of sex education.
The boys who attend our workshops are often vulnerable, in gangs, dealing with family breakdowns and find themselves unsafe and vulnerable on the streets. The workshop enables them to discuss their emotions in an encouraging environment of peers.
The Girls' Group and workshops focus on leadership, practical life skills and motivational advice to empower them to make better-informed life decisions.
Open Access Session
In the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis, a significant proportion of youth centres were closed down. This limited the amount of safe, indoor spaces where young people could meet safely. Our open access sessions allow the young people to come in and just 'be' themselves.
Open access youth hub sessions are split over three age groups – ranging from 8-21. We offer materials, tools and equipment to take part in artistic pursuits, sports, gardening, digital skills, outdoor activities, games, media production, bicycle repair and many other projects that build essential skills, leadership and self-confidence.
Each session also includes freshly cooked food and a cookery class. With the increase of food poverty, especially during the holidays, the support that our services provide to families and young people cannot be overstated.