Croydon youth centre aims to give pupils hope after fatal stabbings

Zaian Aimable-Lina died from a stab wound to the heart in Decemeber

The headteacher of a London school which saw two pupils killed last year has said they are trying to build hope to help students deal with their grief.

Zaian Aimable-Lina, 15, was stabbed to death in December while Damarie Omare Roye, 16, was attacked in July. Both attended Oasis Academy Shirley Park.

The Croydon school is fundraising to create a youth centre in a nearby park in honour of the pupils.

Principal Saqib Chaudhri said it had been a very difficult time.

"We lost a student in the summer holidays, and we lost a student in the Christmas holidays, so for the staff community there's certainly an anxiety around holidays now and the local area."

He said when the students in Zaian's year group returned in January, they were "very quiet, they were within themselves somewhat, and really struggled to talk about how they were feeling".

Damarie Omare Roye was attacked on the afternoon of 9 July

The school has brought in grief and loss training to support pupils.

Mr Chaudhri explained: "What we're trying to do is build some hope... what we want to be able to do is show students that actually this is a time when we rely on our values more than any other time.

"What we're doing with the Zaian Centre is the first glimmer of hope that I've seen in their eyes for a very long time."

He added: "He was a popular boy; he was popular because of his kindness. He was a friend to everyone... he was a talented musician, a talented footballer, but also just a smart, bright young man that was very self-aware and very respectful to others.

"A part of the tragedy is just how hard it's hit the year group as a whole, because he was such a much-loved character."

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Jacob Akiobe-Peters, a pupil on the fundraising committee for the centre set up by Zaian's friends, said: "I feel like it's important that we know that this is, as well as a memorial, it's also going to be used to prevent anything like this from happening again."

He said the centre should be "a place for young adults to be, where they feel comfortable and they feel like they have a safe haven, they have somewhere to go", with no young person in the community "turned away".

The centre could include studios, sports facilities and mentoring for young people, he said, adding that it was important to keep young people engaged so that they kept coming back over the long term.

'Everyone's at risk'

The building was secured by Steve Chalke, the founder of Oasis Charitable Trust which operates the school.

Mr Chalke, whose trust runs 52 schools across England, said he hoped the centre would showcase a "wraparound, joined-up, integrated service" that combined education with youth work.

"You keep each student safe by keeping every other young person safe and engaged, that's the point.

"Unless you're doing this for all young children, all young pupils, everyone's at risk, because your child can fall victim of another child who has not had the attention and the engagement and the involvement that they need," he said.

More than £10,000 has been raised in the last few days to set up the youth centre, while £200,000 has been donated through a single source to fund a full-time youth worker for the centre over the next three years.

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