Lambeth School Patrol, established in 2018, but cut short by lockdown, is seeking volunteers and donors as it prepares to start work again.
After school-age children brawled on Brixton High Street in 2018 and several were arrested, the Code 7 charity responded to a deeply felt need in the community by organising a public meeting.
Consultations followed and a request emerged for an inter-generational patrol in Brixton as pupils came out of school in the afternoon. it would be independently funded and composed of community volunteers.
With community supported the project was launched and secured funding.
As the project starts up again during Black History Month, Lambeth School Patrol (LSP) recalled that Marcus Garvey, a Jamaican national hero and Pan-Africanist, taught in the early twentieth century that self-help African unity and economic independence were critical to African survival in the modern world.
“LSP is a self-help initiative run by Code 7,” it said
LSP volunteers began to patrol Brixton High Street, but were forced to stop by the lockdown in 2020.
However, as many as 80% of the LSP volunteers who completed training have been hired by Code 7 as sessional youth workers.
LSP volunteers interact positively with young people on the High Street every day and provide signposting to a range of critical services and opportunities available both in Lambeth and the wider London area.
They are also trained in advanced first-aid and carry emergency medical kits.
Volunteers have also helped to search for missing young people, befriended young people, and helped support local businesses.
“After a year off the streets, we now need to start again, and we are preparing for the new school academic year by launching a fundraising drive to help recruit a new team of volunteers,” LSP said.
“If you’re willing to donate or volunteer to patrol the streets, you can help us send an essential message to the broader community that no one cares more about our children than we do.”
LSP wants the resources to support a new round of volunteer recruitment. Vetting and training volunteers takes place over 12 weeks.
For more information, call 07907 273710, or email lambethschoolspatrol@gmail.com.
You can donate to the project online
Instagram #lambethschoolpatrol
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