Youth Inclusion Unit

Youth Inclusion Programme - Bury Park

Youth Inclusion Programmes (YIPs) were established in 2000 by the Youth Justice Board, and are tailor-made initiatives for 13 to 16 year olds who are engaged in crime or are identified as being most at risk of offending, truancy, antisocial behaviour or social exclusion. The programmes operate in 72 of the most deprived/high crime areas of England and Wales, including Luton.

YIPs aim to reduce youth crime in local neighbourhoods by using many different diversionary and educational activities to channel young people away from antisocial behaviour and crime. These activities include:

• Music Mixing and Lyric Workshops
• Football and Basketball
• Drugs, Alcohol and Sexual Health Education
• Anger Management Workshops
• Residential Outings

In addition to these activities, two drop-ins have been developed which has led to an increase in the engagement of hard to reach young people, and the YIP has also run a number of town-wide events including the annual street basketball tournament which attracted over 1500 young people last year. The YIP continues to outperform all of its targets and is recognised as being one the the leading Youth Inclusion Programmes in the country.

A flyer outlining the primary activities of the YIP can be viewed here.

Youth Diversionary Scheme - Marsh Farm

The Marsh Farm Youth Diversionary Scheme (YDS) is a relatively new programme, starting in September 2003, funded by the Marsh Farm New Deal for Communities. The scheme aims to reduce the number of identified young people who are at the most risk of becoming disaffected, by carrying out a range of one-to-one and group work, as well as after school provisioning, activities and workshops.

In its first year the scheme was successful in the identification of its target group, establishing working relationships with key partners and creating an active Steering Group.

Youth Detached Team - High Town, Ashcroft and Lewsey Farm

The Youth Detached Team acts as an early intervention scheme where young people in three areas of Luton are diverted away from antisocial behaviour. In addition to the fixed youth facilities in Lewsey Farm - the Balistic Zone, and in High Town - the POD, this outreach work is conducted in order to ensure that those young people who do not attend the youth centres are made aware of the facilities available and signposted towards local agencies.

Community Auto Training Scheme

The Community Auto Training Scheme allows young people the opportunity to engage or re-engage in education through an accredited City & Guilds qualification in Motor Vehicle Studies. 15 such students received the qualification last year, completing over 145 weeks of training (target was 112).