Club Doncaster Community Sports and Education Foundation

The aim of the project is to work with young people aged 8-18 who are at risk of becoming entrenched in violence, to reframe their attitude towards violence and reduce violent behaviour.

Referrals are assigned to a dedicated caseworker who provides weekly one-to-one sessions over a six month period to work towards this aim. Referrals are identified in collaboration with partner organisations which the Club Doncaster Foundation have existing relationships with through previous delivery.

These include the local Multi-Agency Child Exploitation group (MACE), South Yorkshire Police, the Early Help service, and a range of primary and secondary schools (mainstream, special, and pupil referral units).

The caseworker develops a positive, stable, and consistent relationship with each young person. This is used as the basis for delivering a range of mentoring sessions alongside cost effective activities to encourage positive behaviours.

As well as addressing specific risk factors that lead to involvement in violent behaviour (e.g. mental health issues, low self-esteem, negative attitudes towards women), the mentoring element is used to amplify the thoughts and feelings of each participant to give them control over the support offered to them. The aim of this is to increase the effectiveness of engagement to reduce involvement in violence.