But we’ve found that when a young person ends up in prison, however deservedly, they often regress. They become hardened, and forget that they are individuals who matter to anyone. They lose their sense of self-worth. They start behaving like children again. When they come out of prison, working with them is often like starting from scratch.
This year, around 12,000 young people between15-21 will be spending Christmas in prison.
Oasis is working hard to make sure young people have opportunities to make the right choices before it gets to a stage where they end up in jail.
The Oasis Difference
With Oasis, young people learn confidence. They learn teamwork. They learn that they are valued, and that they matter. They start to make positive decisions and life choices. They begin to have aspirations. They learn just how good they can be.
It costs around £120,000 to put a juvenile in prison for a year. In Enfield alone, we work with 800 young people for the same amount. You can donate now here.
And for that money, we’re seeing real success. There’s Stephen, for example, who we started working with two years ago. He’s had some heavy gang involvement and several run-ins with the police. Fifteen months ago he was stabbed seriously in the chest.
Things could have spiralled out of control, but Oasis youth workers visited him in hospital, and have since been working closely with him. In the summer Stephen asked us to help find him things to do to keep him busy and away from negative behaviour.
Jenny, his youth worker said, “It’s by no means the end of the story - I’m still worried about him. However, this week he got onto a college course and is doing really well.”
The kind of projects we run are simple: gardening, football, radio stations, photography workshops, training in hairdressing. But it’s the fact that we’re there for our young people, day after day, week after week that makes the difference.
This Christmas, please help us to work with more young people like Stephen, before it’s too late.