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On Wednesday 10 August 2022, The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, visited Home Cooked at the Engine Room located in Hale Village. This visit was a chance for the Mayor to hear from local young people, especially those accessing one of the many, Home Cooked funded projects. On behalf of the Home Cooked consortium, Michele Eastmond, Vice Chair of The Bridge Renewal Trust welcomed the Mayor and all the guests.

The visit comes at a time when Sadiq Khan is focussing on summer activities, police engagement, and enforcements actions. He heard about all the fantastic projects being delivered and also spent some time listening to the concerns that the local community have.

Sadiq Khan said: “The only way to achieve the further reductions in violence and growth in community confidence we all want to see is through deliberate, well-coordinated and well-funded partnership work.

“From City Hall we are supporting our dedicated neighbourhood police officers and investing record amounts in initiatives to support young Londoners at critical stages in their lives. But more must be done.

“There is no escaping the reality that the spiralling cost of living is exacerbating poverty, deprivation and the lack of positive opportunities for young Londoners, which we know can be both causes and drivers of violent crime. As with poverty, violence is not inevitable and that’s why it’s more important than ever that we all work closely together to help keep our communities safe.”

The Mayor was joined by the MP for Tottenham, David Lammy, the Leader of Haringey Council, Councillor Peray Ahmet, Deputy Mayor of London, Joanna McCartney, the Director of the Violence Reduction Unit Lib Peck, Superintendent Rhona Hunt, PC Eyahia Ahmed the Youth Engagement and Diversion Lead, as well as young people, parents and local organisations that are involved in the Home Cooked Network.

A presentation on youth violence was delivered by PC Eyahia Ahmed. This was followed by an open discussion facilitated by youth worker Obi Onyido who spoke about summer programmes that have made a positive impact on the young people. Young people were then invited to share their lived experiences including as beneficiaries of Home Cooked activities.

Lib Peck, Director of London’s VRU, said: “London’s Violence Reduction Unit is leading an approach to tackling violence that is rooted in partnership, prevention and early intervention. This summer and beyond, we are investing in programmes which provide activities, guidance and positive opportunities for more than 70,000 young people, their families and communities. This includes measures to support families, funding to keep young people in education, investment in the vital role played by youth workers and mentors, and support and resources for communities – as we’ve seen in the VRU’s MyEnds project in Tottenham today - to tackle the issues affecting their neighbourhoods.”

After the first round table session with the young people, The Mayor met with local grassroots organisations, community leaders, parents and younger children. Again, he listened to concerns from parents, as well as the Home Cooked activities taking place in Tottenham Hale.

Rachel Hughes, Chair of The Bridge Renewal Trust said: “Thanks to the £750,000 funding from the Mayor’s London Violence Reduction Unit to our Home Cooked MyEnds partnership, we have brought together local young people, wider community and partner agencies to tackle the root causes of violence in Tottenham Hale. Our programmes are community-led and build on the passions and lived expertise of local people. They range from a variety of summer activities to other early help and prevention programmes to improve trust with the police, family relationships, mental health, educational achievements, job prospects and address exploitation.”

Tackling violence in London is a priority for the Mayor of London who recently announced an additional £9 million investment towards the Violence Reduction’s, community-led programme ‘MyEnds’. This will empower communities, to continue to lead and deliver interventions in neighbourhoods affected by high levels of violence across London.

Round table discussion with the Mayor Sadiq Khan, the MP for Tottenham David Lammy, Deputy Mayor of London Joanna McCartney, the Director of the Violence Reduction Unit Lib Peck, PC Eyahia Ahmed the Youth Engagement and Diversion Lead, Superintendent Rhona Hunt, Louise Musumbu the Programme Manager on Home Cooked and young people.

From left to right: Councillor Peray Ahmet the leader of Haringey Council, youth worker Obi Onyido, the Mayor Sadiq Khan, the MP for Tottenham David Lammy and young people.

From left to right: Louise Musumbu the Programme Manager, Sheryl Yeboah the Communications and Engagement Officer, Yvonne Lawson CEO of the Godwin Lawson Foundation, Lynette Charles CEO of Mind in Haringey, Geoffrey Ocen the Chief Executive at the Bridge Renewal Trust, the Mayor Sadiq Khan, John Egbo CEO of North London Partnership Consortium, Courtney Brown CEO of Father 2 Father and Lib Peck Director of the Violence Reduction Unit.

PC Ahmed delivering a presentation on anti-knife crime.

From left to right: Olivia Opara from Haringey Youth Advisory Board, Sadiq Khan and Geoffrey Ocen.

The Mayor Sadiq Khan meeting with grassroots community organisations, parents and younger children.