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Spark2Life Annual Report & Accounts 2023–24

Spark2Life is a Black-led London charity founded by reformed offender Dez Brown, delivering culturally competent therapeutic mentoring, casework, advocacy and detached outreach to young people at risk of or involved in the criminal justice system. In 2023/24 it reached 5,503 young people across London, Kent and Buckinghamshire, with 92% of mentees not reoffending and 75% improving their wellbeing. The charity works across 49 schools and PRUs, 7 Youth Offending Services and 5 Probation Services, and trains police in Stop & Search awareness. It secured a Youth Endowment Fund grant and is one of very few Black-led charities in the sector with turnover above £1.3 million.

Report snapshot
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About

AQA-accredited Wholistic Mentoring Programme (one-to-one therapeutic mentoring for young people at risk of or involved in the criminal justice system); school-based group and one-to-one mentoring (262 young people); casework and advocacy in the community (313 young people); detached street outreach programme (260 young people); Stop & Search training for police recruits (125 trained); professional and volunteer training in Wholistic Mentoring methodology (64 trained); parent support (20 parents); counselling; system influencing activities (53 engagements) Custom geography from upload: Kent and Buckinghamshire, UK (7 London boroughs)

Key Metrics

Key Metric 1 5,503 young people reached; 4,659 attended awareness sessions in schools; 322 received one-to-one mentoring, casework and advocacy support
Key Metric 2 92% of mentees did not reoffend; 75% improved their wellbeing; 60% improved relationships with family and professionals; 60% achieved engagement in education, training or employment
Key Metric 3 £1.3 million+ annual turnover; 31 staff members; 61 unique partners including 49 mainstream schools and PRUs, 7 Youth Offending Services and 5 Probation Services; Youth Endowment Fund grant secured

Key Outcomes

  • School partner (Holy Family, Walthamstow): 'Spark2Life's interventions have been invaluable… Spark2Life is able to offer students something which we as teachers cannot'
  • One of very few Black-led charities with annual turnover above £1.3 million working in the criminal justice system; delivers culturally competent, trauma-informed support with majority of staff having lived experience of the CJS
  • 53 system influencing activities during the year — contributing to national policy discussions on stop and search, school exclusion, mental health disproportionality and racial discrimination for Black males in the CJS

Geography

London

Impact Snapshot
Key Metric 1
8,033 children, adults and families affected by a disappearance helped in 2022/23
Key Metric 2
35,064 TextSafe® messages sent to missing children and adults; 2,960 Suicide Risk TextSafe® messages to high-risk individuals
Key Metric 3
40% of Lost Contact tracing cases successfully resolved; 1,000+ multi-agency professionals trained
30th anniversary year: over 10 years and £10 million raised by players of People's Postcode Lottery for Missing People's services
Impact Snapshot
Key Metric 1
CHF 3 million+ total programme funding raised in 2025 — a record — with CHF 1.3 million redeployed directly to YMCA National Movements
Key Metric 2
2.5 million people reached through digital skilling initiatives via HP partnership across 30 YMCA partners since 2021
Key Metric 3
37,000 people directly reached per Community Wellbeing project (1.3 million indirectly); 85 new Change Agents enrolled from 44 countries
5,000 jobs to be created under Igniting Youth Futures (USD 5.2 million Accenture/Macquarie-funded); 750+ young people already reached at year-end
Impact Snapshot
Key Metric 1
95 individual young people in under-16s groups; 85 in over-16s groups; 42 in Transformers (trans/non-binary); 114 young people supported through 385 one-to-one sessions
Key Metric 2
149 parents and carers supported across 44 online and in-person groups; 3,500+ participants in training and workshops across 97 sessions
Key Metric 3
96% of young people said Allsorts groups had been of help; 75% said coming to Allsorts improved their overall wellbeing
Won Investing in Children's Member of the Year Award for extensive youth voice integration; 100% of Summer Programme participants enjoyed activities