“It is through their own resilience that they are able to find a positive focus for their future.”

Additionally, research published this year concludes that “Britain is not close to being a racially just society”. Consequently, we cannot turn a blind eye to the impacts of social injustice, a known driver of violence. In a system that appears increasingly strained due to limited resources, we made it a priority last year to forge partnerships within the professional network. We recognise that safeguarding children and young people cannot be accomplished in isolation.

In a system that appears increasingly strained due to limited resources, we made it a priority last year to forge partnerships within the professional network. We recognise that safeguarding children and young people cannot be accomplished in isolation. Last year, we enhanced our decision-making processes at Safer London’s Front Door, ensuring thorough reviews of requests when multiple agencies are involved. This reduces duplicating work and ensures that all decisions prioritise the best interests of the child.

As part of our five-year strategy our commitment includes providing a single, consistent point of contact for young Londoners. We adopt a team around-the-worker model, allowing individual Caseworkers to tap into a wealth of information we hold as an organisation, while continuing to serve as the primary point of contact for the child or young person. Our work remains adaptable, offering flexibility for the Safer London team and we offer the young Londoners a blend of in-person support alongside online check-ins and conversations.

Guided by fundamental principles, we place the safeguarding of young Londoners at the heart of everything we do. This is deeply rooted within our core one-to-one intervention work, an offer that is strong and robust.

Yet, we acknowledge that there is still more that needs to be done.

Looking to the future, we aim to strengthen our community intervention offer. Place-based interventions are relatively new terrain across the sector, and it takes time to develop initiatives that foster genuine sustainability within the community itself. However, we have assigned a dedicated worker to spearhead this work, and we are confident that we will make significant progress in the coming year.

Another priority in the coming year is an increased commitment to amplifying the voices of young Londoners. This includes putting the processes and support in place to make sure the issues that are important to them are heard by those who can influence and create change.

I am immensely proud of the entire Safer London team. Every single person who works here is dedicated and passionate about promoting the safety and welfare of young Londoners. However, when I look back and reflect on our accomplishments as an organisation my thoughts are always taken to the achievements made by the young Londoners we work alongside. These are young individuals who are having to navigate through incredibly tough environments. It is through their own resilience that they are able to find a positive focus for their future.”