Community & Social Justice Education & Young People 2024
Spark2Life

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.

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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

5,503 young people reached; 4,659 attended awareness sessions in schools; 322 received one-to-one mentoring, casework and advocacy support Key Metric 1
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 2
£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 Metric 3

✅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

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