BACK GROUND INFORMATION       [Download]
Teen Spirit is a multicultural group of approximately 40 young people aged between 13-19 years based in the borough of Newham at the ARC church on Sebert Road Forest Gate who celebrate their differences and aspire to live their life to the full while making a positive change to their community and Nation.

AIM
Teen-Spirit is about helping young people realise their physical, social, and mental abilities while keeping them out of trouble with the law.  The leaders of Teen Spirit do not make any decisions for the young people however, we teach and provide the youth with all available information and sign-posting that will enable them to make the right choices in life.

“STOP DA VIOLENCE”

BACK GROUND INFORMATION

After the death of one of our own youth (Charlotte Polius – R.I.P) last year, Teen Spirit which is made up of young people from all walks of life decided to be a strong voice in their community and in society that would go beyond the walls of colour, religion and culture to stand against violence and all its outcomes.

On 1-July- 2005, (R.I.P Charlotte’s birthday), we launched STOP DA VIOLENCE; the first event was in a concert. This event attracted over 500 young people from all walks of the community and society who listened to songs, raps and speakers followed by a play which so the group multiply in number.

AIM  
To ‘Defame’ Violence amongst the youth in the Community & remembrance of Charlotte on the 10th April 2005 and so many other young people in the community who have been the victim of violence.

THE PRESENT STATUS
We currently have youth in school, college, university and employment. Those whom are not engaging in nay of the following above are strongly encouraged and fully supported by the leaders to do so. We also mentor ex-offenders to stop them from re-offending by offering them new and exciting challenges to help them reach their full potential.

METHOD
To bring this aim across to the community through using the talents, expertises and experience of other young people and those who work with them. They can express themselves through

1. Rapping,/Spoken Word
2. Singing,
3. Testimonies/talks,
4. Sketches,
5. Poems  
6. Dancing.

VISION

• To hold Quarterly/yearly ‘Stop Da Violence’ events & travel to other communities to minister/speak against violence
• Give Support to those in gangs wanting to change but feel they have no way out
• Support to families & victims
• Go into the community

THE PRESENT STATUS

We currently have youth in Education, Employment and Training (EET) who have managed to stay clear from all crime. We also have some who are presently Not in Education, Employment or Education (NEET) and some ex-offenders (have brushed the wrong side of the law as it were).
Since the last STOP DA VIOLENCE 2005 concert, we have had about 3 of our youth stabbed and a big number of them who have been a victim of crime on the streets of Newham. We as Teen Spirit refuse to sit down and watch our beautiful city fall into the hands of young broken men and women who with no value for life. We believe that most of these offenders do need help and we are determined to use all the resources we have and network with every organisation in partnership to try and stop this violence which is like a “cancer” eating away at our community.
We believe that violence is “NOT cool BUT CRUEL” and we are aiming to “defame violence through these events” we shall continue to put on.
Plans for big events in 2006:

1. On the 8/04/06 we shall be having the STOP DA VIOLENCE concert at 66a Sebert Road E7, (all welcome) the ARC church.
2. This will then help us prepare for the bigger event at SARAH BONNEL School on the 1/07/06. We have a community wide vision and we want to join hands to fight a common deadly culture of violence. 

WHAT WE HOPE TO ACHIEVE FROM STOP DA VIOLENCE
From the victim’s side- Youth awareness of how many peoples lives are affected when one person is stabbed i.e. parents’ friends’, siblings, family community you will have to live with
From the un-cool assaults side – Youth need to realise that the police are doing an efficient job and technology is improving every day. This means that your moment of madness somehow or someday will live you with these ‘un-cool’ choices.

• Life in prison or long sentences
• Criminal Records which dash any hopes of securing a respectable job
• Whole families’ reputation (if any) destroyed
• Self evaluation

HOW WE HOPE TO ACHIEVE THESE TARGET
We intend to print anti-violence slogans on T-shirts, bandanas, free anti-violence CD’s key holders, posters, newspapers street concerts, flyers and much more however we haven’t got the finances to spread as far as we can. If we had the finances then we would like to permeate other resources ie the newspapers, internet, radio etc.

LONG TERM PLANS
From pass experience, we realised that some of these youth want to get out of gangs and they hate what they do but yet feel trapped in the whole gang family life.

• We are hoping to have a 24 hour line service for any youth who may want to talk to someone they can trust. If this can help stop just one murder happening at a time, we believe our community can change.
• We are hoping to work closely with community services and see how we can continue to communicate our experiences and tap into theirs too so together we can make a differences in our society. We would mentor young people in their goals.
• We plan to host STOP DA VIOLENCE concert - 2 events per year (funds allowing) and we intend to offer all the youth the immediate attention and follow up that they require to change their lifestyle and make better choices.
• To have a system that can help young people to get into employment.
• In Teen Spirit, we strongly encourage and celebrate our education. We believe that by doing this, young people learn social and academic skill, which increase their self worth and increases their love for life. However for the other youth that are not in employment, or education , we are hoping to find skills and tools to teach them that can be more adaptable and enjoyable for them This may take the form of carpentry, plumbing, hair dressing or cooking which are all highly interactive and enjoyable activities.
• We hope to visit other cities in England that are being affected by this violence disease such as Birmingham, Liverpool and Newcastle.
• In the very near future, we intend to start self defence classes which will equip young people with the ability to defend them when attacked, disarm their attacker and safely escape an attack. These classes have been hindered by the fact that Teen Spirit lacks the space (premises) to do these activities.

We want to take a holistic look at our young people helping them to look and provide services that will help them in the areas that they most have need for while working at the other targets that they will work towards to get to their positive aim.
By helping other young people reach their goals, as leaders we need to network with other agencies provide, drop in support groups and keep records to monitor their progress.

HOW WE HOPE TO ACHIEVE THESE TARGETS
At each and every event we will be providing anti-violent slogan: Tee shirts, key ring holders, free CD’s DVD’s posters and flyers against violence. To advertise these events we endeavour to advertise in Newspapers, on air over the radio, on the Teen Spirit website