The E.R Project

1. The E.R Project Aiming to reduce the victims of sexual exploitation and VAWG (violence against women and girls). Generating leadership in females and the right to always Expect Respect

2. The Background St Giles Trust & Lambeth GVRU delivered a 3 month pilot Satellite Youth Centre Project aimed at young people aged 13 to 19. The project was designed to offer drop-in surgery support to young people at selected youth centres across Lambeth. During the sessions we helped service users access services such JCP, giving advice around housing options and assisting in sourcing education, training and employmentopportunities.

3. What we found during the Pilot…. The pilot identified that there were not many female only sessions being run by youth centres within the borough. The females we spoke to felt that the youth centres did not cater to them and everything was focused at the male service users. Like their male counterparts, we found the females were affected by gang issues. Though these issues manifested themselves in a high number of females becoming victims of sexual exploitation & VAWG. Many of the victims displayed low self-esteem, a tendency to be aggressive and violent towards their peers, family and authority, and poor decision making leaving them exposed to high risk situations and relationships.

4. What we found during the Pilot…. 70% of the females we spoke to had low career aspirations and lack of engagement in the school setting. Negative stereotyping and social media had a major impact on how girls identified themselves amongst their peers. There was little to no early intervention work being carried out and a lot of the females were going unnoticed until it was too late.

5. The aim of the ER Project The ER Project is designed to help empower females to see themselves as valuable members of the community. We want to nurture growth within females by creating positive self-image and role modelling. We want to build the confidence, self esteem, strength and self-worth of all of our service users.

6. E.R The ER Project helps services users to develop self awareness and inner wisdom to help makes choices that honour their beliefs and values. The workshops challenge negative stereotypes and explore how messages in the media shape how females feel about themselves and their peers. We want to give our service user the tools for dealing with peer pressure and help them to identify and maintain healthy relationships. ER inspires service users to connect with their leadership potential, set goals and begin taking action to achieve them. We want our service users to take ownership of their futures, celebrate their accomplishments to always expect respect.

7. ER Project Workshops Our workshops are designed to be interactive challenging and fun. We give our service users a platform to discuss issues they may be going through or witnessing. Our sessions are based around: Healthy Relationships Creativity Sexual Health Career Mapping Healthy Lifestyle Staying Safe Life Skills Cyber Bulling

8. ER • The programme aims to make targeted youth centres more open and accessible to young women and the wider community. • We currently deliver weekly group sessions at: Marcus Lipton Youth Centre (MLYC) –Loughborough Junction Young People Matter (YPM) – Stockwell and Camberwell Foyer Supported Accommodation • We have the capacity to work 1:1 with a caseload of 20 identified clients. • To date we have delivered over 20 sessions and have just successfully finished our Summer Programme in MLYC & YPM

9. THANK YOU ANY QUESTIONS?