Fight for Peace’s Special Project has won the highly competitive Youth Justice Award at the 2020 Children & Young People Now Awards. The awards celebrate the very best in services for children, young people and families in the UK, and are selected by a judging panel of sector experts and a special panel of young judges. The 2020 version of the awards, which was presented via a special online ceremony, saw 650 entries across 24 award categories.
Based at the London Academy in Newham, the Fight for Peace Special Project aims to address issues of violence and trauma amongst young men, offering intensive support to enable them to make significant changes in their lives.
The project empowers participants to have a positive sense of self-identity, develop knowledge about their place in society and cultural history, improve their financial management, access education and employment opportunities, build stronger, positive relationships with others, and have a more positive view of their future.
Through this intensive support, the project provides opportunities for young people to thrive, manage their emotional health, and to help prevent violent and offending behaviour.
Reflecting on the award, Special Project Coordinator Richard Roach said: “Winning the Youth Justice award almost feels like we have completed a marathon. It has been a long and tough year, but we have managed to make it through and support young people through some of the most challenging times. To be recognised for it at this scale means a lot, and gives us all the drive to keep working with young people to strive for better futures.”
Jenny Oklikah, Chief Executive of Fight for Peace added: “We are so excited to have won the Children & Young People Now Award, and are so proud of the young people participating on the programme and our team of youth workers who all work so incredibly hard to make the programme a success. To have been recognised by such an experienced line up of sector experts as being one of the best services for young people in the UK highlights the transformative work being carried out, and the dedication and commitment of our staff.”
“Seeing the progress and growth of the young people on the programme is extremely powerful. So many people at Fight for Peace – from youth workers to the monitoring and evaluation team and other staff – have contributed to the success of the Special Project and so this feels like a real team win!”
Fight for Peace’s approach to the challenges of the last twelve months was focused on doing everything we could to continue delivering support to our young people, particularly those most vulnerable, and the Special Project, which continued in different virtual and face to face forms throughout the pandemic, is a perfect example of this.
Having the Special Project recognised in this way provides an opportunity to take a moment to celebrate in the most challenging of years. We extend our thanks to the Children & Young People Now Awards and all of the judges involved and look forward to delivering further impact as the Special Project continues to develop and support young people.