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Leap Confronting Conflict awards young peer leaders at Fear and Fashion: Tackling Knife Crime Certificate Ceremony

Thursday 17th December 2009

Over 60 people from across London are gathering today to celebrate the outstanding contribution young people are making to reducing violence, weapon carrying and fear of violence in Westminster. Charity of the Year, Leap Confronting Conflict has been working in partnership with Westminster City Council’s Young People’s Services to deliver the Fear and Fashion: Tackling Knife Crime Project for over 2 ½ years.

The Fear and Fashion: Tackling Knife Crime Certificate Ceremony will give recognition to 18 young people who have successfully trained to facilitate peer education workshops on the causes and consequences of using knives. During the ceremony peer educators will demonstrate the skills they have learnt in an interactive workshop.

Commenting on the event Leap Manager Jessie Feinstein said:
“At Leap we believe that young people are the best role models for other young people. It’s a fantastic thing to see the high esteem these newly trained young peer educators are held in by their peers, putting them in a great position to act as ambassadors in the quest to reduce knife crime, violence and fear in London.”

Cllr Daniel Astaire, Westminster City Council’s cabinet member for community safety, added: “It’s not cool to be in a gang. Don’t be led astray by peers who try and make you think that it is.”

Designed to change the behaviour, improve communication and conflict management skills and increase employability of targeted young people, the project was recently named Runner-Up at the Fear and Fashion Awards 2009. Funded by the Fear & Fashion Consortium, it has now honoured 46 young peer leaders from the London borough of Westminster for their outstanding work and achievements since launching in 2007.

Leap has been training young people in the skills they need to tackle and prevent violence for over two decades. The organisation will reach over 30,000 young people this year through its training as well as undertaking further pioneering research on this very important social issue.

Ends

For further information, please contact:
Elly Gilbert 020 7561 3718 / elly.gilbert@leapconfrontingconflict.org.uk

Notes to editors
Leap Confronting Conflict (Leap) has a track record of 22 years development of innovative youth programmes that work with young people and youth practitioners to prevent and manage violence and transform challenging and anti-social behaviour. Leap has the explicit vision that conflict resolution skills and understanding should be located within all informal and formal programmes for young people in the UK.
Registered Charity no: 1072376 | Registered Company no: 3628271