Lambeth council and the London Violence Reduction Unit (VRU) yesterday (2 June) launched a campaign – Safe Road, Safe Way Home – as part of local efforts to tackle robbery and make young people safer.
It will involve regular patrols and mobile CCTV surveillance.
The council also announced plans to expand “night hubs” in the borough, based on the success of one at the Methodist church on Clapham High Street, which operates on Friday and Saturday nights, providing a safe haven for vulnerable individuals and coordinating local services.
Safe Road, Safe Way Home was developed through work with the borough’s young people, in partnership with Lambeth-based creative agency Young Creators UK (YCUK). It is designed to raise awareness of Lambeth’s Youth Engagement Service (YES) and encourage young people to engage with its patrols and the support they provide.
Young people who were consulted said they were pleased that more youth professionals were on the streets of Lambeth, looking out for their welfare.
As well as youth outreach patrols, the Safe Road, Safe Way Home campaign includes coordination with local police, engagement with licensed premises and the use of mobile CCTV cameras at known hotspots to detect and deter crime.
The cameras feed footage to the council’s recently upgraded CCTV control centre.
The council said this is helping it and the police to make Lambeth safer, with high-definition footage provided by a network of more than 600 cameras across the borough.
Last year more than 19,000 incidents were recorded by the CCTV team, compared to the 6,000 incidents recorded before the upgrades took place.
Lib Peck, director of the VRU and a former leader of Lambeth council, visited Bishop Thomas Grant School in Streatham to meet the youth engagement team during one of its regular deployments and to speak to pupils and staff about the importance of the team’s work.
She was joined by Cllr Dr. Mahamed Hashi, Lambeth council’s cabinet member for safer communities.
The Safe Road, Safe Way Home campaign was developed to address young people’s concerns about often feeling unsafe going to and from school.
The two-year programme, funded by the VRU, is part of a £200,000 package of measures to tackle robbery after school and in busy night-time economy areas in London.
The VRU said it aims to build on signs of progress seen recently, with an 18.6% fall in reported violence with injury incidents in the 12 months to March 2025.
“Our ambition is to make Lambeth one of the safest boroughs in London, where everyone feels safe and secure in all places,” Cllr Hashi said at the school event.
“This is one of the core ambitions in our Lambeth 2030 borough plan – Our Future, Our Lambeth.
“We know robbery can have a deep emotional impact on young people who experience it, which is why we’re putting more council resources into supporting young people, with additional street patrols by our Youth Engagement Service, as well as mobile CCTV deployments to help catch perpetrators.
“When they engage with young people after school, our youth outreach team take a preventative approach, pointing young people to local opportunities with our fantastic local youth organisations.
“They also help to identify those at risk of exploitation or victimisation, as part of our public health, preventative approach to tackling violence affecting young people.”
Lib Peck said: “Evidence shows young people are vulnerable to exploitation and violence in the crucial after-school period.
“That’s why we have invested £3m in a programme of interventions to tackle robbery in key London boroughs.
“We’re funding youth work and a series of activities during the after-school period to support and divert young people away from robbery and violence.
“I’m really pleased that our investment is supporting Lambeth council to fund vital youth work and activities for young people to keep them safe and provide opportunities for them to thrive.”
Lambeth has a team of 24 youth workers who patrol the borough after school and in the evenings to provide proactive support to children and young people.
Working with YCUK, the council is also launching a special robbery reduction toolkit for schools, helping teachers and other youth professionals to have supportive conversations with young people about their safety.
As well as sharing simple steps everyone can take to protect themselves when out and about – like keeping valuables out of sight and sticking to busier routes – the toolkit also supports staff to engage young people around the emotional impact that experiencing or witnessing an incident can have.
They are offered guidance on some of the free, confidential support available, including Kooth, Lambeth’s free, safe, online and anonymous place for young people to access support and counselling.
The Youth Engagement Service, run by the Lambeth Youth Justice Service, focuses on engaging with young people in areas with high risks of violence and antisocial behaviour.
It aims to provide support, referrals, and assistance with education, training, and employment.
In response to serious youth violence incidents, additional staff are deployed to offer community reassurance and support.
The programme also targets young people at risk of exploitation, providing early engagement and support.
A dedicated licensing officer has been recruited to engage with businesses in night-time economy areas to help put strategies in place to reduce violence.
This involves developing nigh-time economy (NTE) violence action plans, contributing to the new NTE strategy, and collaborating with local safer business networks and business improvement districts (BIDs).
The council is also exploring the expansion of “night hubs” to help keep people safe on busy night’s out.
This builds on the success of the Clapham Night Hub, at the Methodist Church on Clapham High Street, which operates every Friday and Saturday night, providing a safe haven for vulnerable individuals and coordinating local services.
The hub, which was set up in 2012, is funded by the This is Clapham BID and supported by the Clapham Methodist Church. It saves the NHS an estimated £80k annually in reduced ambulance callouts and A&E visits.
The council will be allocating £10,000 to support the expansion of night hubs to other town centres, covering costs for volunteer first aid training, uniforms, advertising, signage, and body cameras.
