Youth leader feedback from Brighton

“Ultimately the best thing I can say about the pilot is that although we learnt a lot along the way, it was still the single most effective piece of work in terms of positive impact on the young mens lives and their communities that I have been involved in, in over 15 years of Youth and Community Work.

My mentee has gone from heading towards long term unemployment and relationship breakdown to working, training to further his career and being a committed partner and father.

The ripples of the programme are still reverberating throughout the estate and I have engaged with many previously hard to reach young fathers, because of the word of mouth ‘references’ I am still receiving from he young men on that pilot programme.”

Paul Salvage

Fathers Involvement Lead;
Brighton and Hove Council

“For the past 10 years I have worked with young men considered to be most at risk of becoming NEET and involved in crime and anti-social behaviour. To my mind, the programmes run by abandofbrothers offer the most meaningful and significant contribution to reducing the associated risk factors of any that I have encountered.

“The template created by abandofbrothers offers a simple, sophisticated and sustainable solution to the NEET agenda – it is a true beacon of light at the end of a dark and costly tunnel comprised of previous, well meaning, yet ultimately flawed, initiatives.”

Dan Hartley B.A.(Hons), Dip H.E., Dip Con
Targeted Youth Support Service
(Brighton and Hove)

“Whereas numerous Government initiatives seem only to scratch the surface, abandofbrothers gets right to the heart of the underlying causes – and the results speak for themselves. Young men are NEET largely because the sparks of aspiration, motivation and creativity are not being ignited. abandofbrothers gives communities the tools to both fan those sparks and also channel the resultant flames to where its warmth
is most needed.”

Andrew
PRU teacher, East Sussex

“I attended the Beyond a Hero training weekend for male mentors and was incredibly impressed by the process. I was most notably impressed by the existing abandofbrothers mentors who ran the training weekend, their ability to support and challenge us was what enabled such a positive and powerful experience. 

We can try a number of talking therapies and different ways to engage young men who are at risk of offending and NEET, however, I have never seen anything as powerful as this programme in terms of raising young men’s aspirations to be responsible members of the community and giving them positive role models and tools to make the most of their potential and lead fulfilled lives.”

Adam
Family Intervention Project Key-Worker:
Anti Social Behaviour Team;
Partnership Community Safety Team,
Brighton and Hove City Council