Want to understand gang activity in your location and the people behind it? You can benefit from a better understanding of crime and gang related activity in your location. This one day training course covers the ‘need to know’ information relating to gang culture. You will hear real stories of former gang members now reformed.

This bespoke training session provides mentoring tools, link work session exercises and top tips for engaging ‘hard to reach’ young people in a fresh way. This is a serious session that will involve practical elements to reinforce the skills learned on the day. For a session that increases self-confidence, this is the one for you…

Working with young people for a local authority? That means if you’re involved with a YOT, Children’s Society, Social Services, Anti-Social Behaviour Team, Housing Team or a similar organisation, you can benefit from a bespoke gang awareness training session that’s engaging, empowering and inspiring.

You can expect to get an insight into the gang culture in your local area and receive training on how to tackle the issue. Benefit from mentoring tools, link work session exercises and best practices for engaging ‘hard to reach’ young people in a fresh way that you can take to the frontline.

This is a ‘hands on’ session that will challenge you to put into practice the skills you have learned on the day, giving you the confidence to approach your role in a new and purposeful way.

As a teacher or education facilitator, you’re already inspiring generations of young people and establishing key connections. You, more than anyone, can reach those that are ‘hard to reach’. This bespoke training session will help you do just that. You can expect to be challenged and empowered.

Learn to understand gang culture and the significance of crime rates in your area and the warning signs of those who are members of, or associated with, a gang.

Receive essential resources, gather useful knowledge and practical tips to reach young people from dysfunctional backgrounds who are most at risk of gang participation. This is a ‘hands on’ session that will challenge you to put into practice the skills you have learned on the day and get equipped to approach the classroom in a new way.

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Want to prevent your children getting mixed up in gangs? This bespoke session is specifically designed to educate parents/carers on gangs and gang culture. Learn the warning signs of potential gang involvement or association and how to act. For many parents, the idea of a child getting caught up in a gang is a nightmare scenario.

This session will cover the increasing role of social media for gang ‘recruitment’ and the behavioural patterns to watch out for. There will be frank and honest discussions about the root reasons behind why children and teenagers get involved in gangs.

Parents/carers will learn about local crime rates and gangs, and can be confident they will be fully ‘clued up’ about the gang environment in their area and what they can do to keep their children out of their clutches.

Why? Because the best cure for rising gang numbers is prevention and that starts with changing the perception that gang culture is cool. Gangs purposely target young, impressionable people, so stop it before it starts. This session allows you to assemble 10-20 young people for a workshop style dialogue.

This format has proven popular across schools and youth events where young people are given a platform to share while receiving real life accounts from people caught up in gang culture. This session will educate and enlighten young people on the realities of gang life and emphasise the importance of good choices.

Know young people who would benefit from some nurturing? This session is aimed at young men and women deemed to be under achieving, lacking motivation, having low self-esteem, being affiliated with a gang, at risk of crime or from a disadvantaged background. What they need is guidance. Reach Every Generation was set up for this very purpose.

Taking young people under our wing is our forte, instilling a sense of purpose and belief in themselves and life in general, reminding them that they are valuable and that bad choices don’t have to define them, there’s always a way back.

These sessions operate on a one-to-one basis, tailored to suit each individual’s needs, no timescale, no pressure, just solid guidance and nurturing for those who perhaps lacked a father figure in their life.

However, despite his traumatic experiences leading to life as a gang member where he sought identity, he takes full responsibility for his choices without assigning blame. He is thankful to his Mum and to God for a second chance in life, which demonstrates that behind his past troubles there is a human being.

Reformed character – the people who shaped Gavin McKenna

Breaking the stranglehold of gang culture, which had gripped Gavin firmly, Colm Witty, the director and founder of Air Football, became a key figure in Gavin’s life. At the age of 18, Colm took Gavin under his wing, giving him a place in his football organisation, mentoring and supporting him with his anger and lifestyle.

Eventually, Gavin was given a chance to become the captain of a team Colm had put together, giving Gavin a sense of identity, belonging and leadership.

Colm also gave Gavin the opportunity to share his story with other young people, which led to him working as a football coach for Air Football, coaching troubled children who struggled with schooling.

The impact of Colm, and his colleague Mog, on Gavin’s life quickly became tangible as they helped him to access services such as mental health support and housing, which led to Gavin securing his own flat, getting on a university course and landing a coaching job.

Professional development

In a professional capacity, Gavin has become a leading light in his field and has worked with Essex County Council serving in different roles, which have included:

• Working in a children’s home as a residential worker and gang mentor.
• Working in family solutions, a Tier 3 service for providing ‘Effective Support for Children and Families in Essex.’

In these roles, Gavin has liaised with many influential members in society including social workers and local authorities. His professionalism quickly led him to introduce his very own gang intervention programme, an initiative praised by Ofsted following an inspection.

Gavin has gone on to apply his past to the future, with a vision to reunite families affected by gang culture. Gavin’s specialist knowledge has seen him deliver expert, informative and inspirational training sessions to many professionals working with young people.

His positioning within a multi-service agency has given Gavin a valuable insight into how schools, social services, youth offending teams (YOT), the police, sexual health practitioners, mental health practictioners and housing services operate, all of which have direct contact with young people on a daily basis.

Gavin plays a key role in society and provides youth work professionals, local authorities and other key organisations with training that carries truth, reality and practicality that will challenge, empower and inspire.