SW!TCH Lives

Mentoring for young people at risk of criminal exploitation.

Is mentoring the new political football?

Here at LifeLine, we have been working closely with the Mayor of London to mentor young people across the capital for the last 15 years. And, while the holder of the title has changed, we are pleased to see that this commitment to mentoring has remained broadly consistent throughout. Now, more than ever, we hope that the power of mentoring...

1 week ago

by Nathan Singleton

Absenteeism: the legacy of lockdown

Educational neglect. Emotional-based schools avoidance. School refusal. Non-attending. Persistent absence. Serious absence. Missing. It's often said that the Inuit have dozens (or more) different words for snow, because they have a lot of it. We, however, seem to have a lot of different names for those repeatedly absent from school. What then does that say about the state of school...

1 month ago

by Nathan Singleton

Using social media for good

This is my first piece of the year—but I won’t be talking about the New Year resolutions you should consider or how 2024 will be your year for personal growth. I’m returning to a theme that often comes up—change, particularly when it comes to new technology. We live in the Information Age, where we have immediate access to a vast...

3 months ago

by Nathan Singleton

Case Study: Serious Group Violence mentoring

LifeLine's SW!TCH Lives programme is funded through the Community Safety Team of the London Borough of Havering. The SW!TCH Lives team provides support to vulnerable young people in Havering, who are at risk of or who are currently known to the Criminal Justice System, to prevent their situation from worsening. The service works closely with the Council’s Youth Offending Service and Probation...

3 months ago

by LifeLine Comms Team

We want to double down and provide more support in London

Last month, I shared some thoughts I had whilst on sabbatical. I hope you didn't mind the excessive sharing or personal photos. I expected that, on my sabbatical, I might reconsider LifeLine's vision, mission, and activities. I thought visiting other charity leaders would inspire me with new ideas that I would be raring to apply to East London. I was...

5 months ago

by Nathan Singleton

Case Study: Serious Group Violence mentoring

LifeLine's SW!TCH Lives programme is funded through the Community Safety Team of the London Borough of Havering. The SW!TCH Lives team provides support to vulnerable young people in Havering, who are at risk of or who are currently known to the Criminal Justice System, to prevent their situation from worsening. The service works closely with the Council's Youth Offending ServiceÂ andÂ Probation...

5 months ago

by LifeLine Comms Team

Celebrating SW!TCH on TikTok and in the sunday papers

Bursting onto TikTok Our SW!TCH team have recently started posting on TikTok, rapidly growing their following of young people to over 300 in a few months. As well as promoting upcoming activities, the team are able to provide a wider range of content for young people than in their face-to-face mentoring sessions–for example, key youth workers introduce themselves and share...

8 months ago

by LifeLine Comms Team

Team Spotlights

Introducing Stephen Callender, Youth Development Worker and Parent Champion Coordinator

This month, we're speaking with Stephen, who joined LifeLine in 2020 and now works on a range of our programmes in the Havering area, offering support to both young people and parents. Where did you grow up? I came over for a visit in 2000. The first thing I fell in love with was the cold. Back home, its blazing...

1 year ago

by LifeLine Comms Team

Mentoring: the key to releasing agents for change

Nobody cares how much you know, until they know how much you care. Theodore Roosevelt When I was growing up, I was lucky enough to have a stable family and caring extended family that provided me the guidance and support that I needed. Like most children, I learnt by observing adults and then imitating them, particularly the ones They should...

1 year ago

by Nathan Singleton

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