Call for youth support amid drug and violence rise

James Armson says The Positive Impact Foundation puts on evening activities such as cooking and football for vulnerable youngsters

A founder of a youth charity says more youngsters are getting involved in drugs and violent crime amid a lack of money for public services.

The Positive Impact Foundation works with 200 at-risk young people across Coventry and Warwickshire but director James Armson says the provision as it stands is "not enough" to help.

After a council youth work subsidy ended, his not-for-profit organisation had been forced to seek its own funding - "and that's difficult", he said.

"[The situation] is getting worse and worse," he added. "There's not enough out there for [young people] to do."

Tom Ellis, 25, was stabbed outside the Ropewalk shopping centre in Nuneaton on 8 June

His comments came after police put a 48-hour dispersal order in place in Nuneaton last Friday in response to a spate of crime, including the fatal stabbing of 25-year-old Tom Ellis.

Mr Armson said while the causes were complex and not all incidents necessarily involved young people, he remained concerned generally about the risks of them becoming involved in crime, and suggested there was a lack of education for them about the dangers.

His organisation works with primary and secondary school children, including those who have been exploited or sold drugs, and also serves as an alternative education source.

"We only have access to our young people between [the hours of] nine and three," he said. "They [then] become their parents' responsibility.

"[But those parents] might have two jobs, they might be struggling to make ends meet. [The young people are] left to their own devices. It then becomes so easy for them to be exploited.

"As soon as organised criminals start to realise that Nuneaton is an area of deprivation they go 'hang on a minute, we can start to exploit these young people'.

"The children get a sense of identity they might've never had."

Mr Armson said a lot of organisations were trying to help but they were stretched.

"The lack of funding for public services [is a real issue]," he said. "We work with 200 [people], that's not enough.

He called for the reinstatement of local government funding to make it easier for organisations to offer youth workshops and activities.

"We need experienced, qualified staff out there to be able to do it," he said.