This week, the fact that violence against young people has soared by 60% hit the headlines.
Sadly, it was no surprise to our Oasis youth workers.
A few weeks ago a young man stumbled into one of our youth groups, bleeding heavily. He had been stabbed in the buttocks – an increasingly common place for victims to be stabbed due to the amount of pain it causes and the blood it releases.
Because of an ongoing police investigation I can’t tell you where in the country this took place. But I can tell you that without the presence of the Oasis youth workers, who bandaged up the young man and got him to A&E, a young person would have died that night.
As we’ve seen from the news, this kind of incident is no longer unusual. Knife crime is rising and there are less youth workers than previously to help mitigate the damage.
At Oasis our vision for youth work includes, but goes far beyond assistance in moments of crisis. We work in hospitals to form relationships with ‘at risk’ young people and run youth groups that create opportunities for mentoring and cohesion, to nurture a sense of resilience which protects them from being drawn into gang culture. And, unfortunately, our involvement in providing this kind of direct help is becoming all too frequent but, at the same time, vital.
Read about the life changing work of Oasis at North Middlesex Hospital
Read moreOYS is an umbrella of services for young people run with St Thomas' Hospital.
Read moreLearn about some of our life changing youth services in Enfield, North London.
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