Youth Empowerment Project

Youth Empowerment Project (YEP)

Addressing youth isolation

Youth Isolation

Health inequalities and poverty among young people are not a myth! We also know from our programmes and youth clubs that many young people suffer from social anxiety, low self-image and self-esteem. In our borough, around a third of children are overweight or obese, while the rates of school exclusion and youth offending are some of the highest in London.

For example, our youth-led "You are not Alone" project gave us hard evidence of an increasing youth isolation and a growing phenomenon of loneliness in young people. We also know that young people and children from lower income households are more than twice as likely to experience bad mental and physical health outcomes than those in high income households. These statistics have gone worse since the pandemic which has created further disadvantage for marginalised communities.

Our response

Button
Button
Button
Button

The Youth Empowerment Project (YEP)

At RJ4All, we believe that through genuine community-led empowerment, the aforementioned barriers can be overcome, allowing better health and educational outcomes for everyone independently of backgrounds.

As part of the London Sport "Addressing Youth Isolation FUND", RJ4All Sports runs the Youth Empowerment Project (YEP) with one simple objective: end youth isolation and loneliness while improving young peoples' educational and mental health outcomes.

Consisting of free and fun classes through sport activities, volunteering, a well-being clinic and a community library, YEP targets marginalised young people (14-19) especially those from South East London, where our Community Centre is based.

YEP also provides regular self-defence and martial arts classes. Physical activities such as these have a proven track record of increasing social inclusion, building a stronger and healthier body and mind, improving self-esteem as well as improving academic achievements.

YEP forms part of our commitment to other supporters who donated towards capital expenditure including the London Marathon Charitable Trust and the Clothworkers' Foundation.