Youth Conference on Gangs, Riots and Racism

The Aasha mediation project is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year and has played a lead role in acting as a mediator in gang conflict in the borough of Tower Hamlets, east London.

The project works with young people aged between 16 and 24 years old who are involved in gangs or are vulnerable to getting into gangs. The Aasha project has worked hard to design interventions to reach out to the youth and offer workshops and training to help them avoid getting into trouble.

Udjal Kamrujzaman is a long serving member of the Aasha team, having previously been part of the Brick Lane Massive in Tower Hamlets.

Udjal will be taking part in a youth conference on Gangs, Riots and Racism, sharing stories of change to inspire young people to steer away from gangs.

The conference will be taking place at the newly-built Osmani Centre in east London, and will feature other prominent speakers who have experience of being in gangs or are leading practitioners in the field. Other speakers on the day include Twilight Bey, a social intervention and gang specialist fro Los Angeles who has worked with Bloods and Crips. Also speaking on the day is Robyn Travis, an author, poet formerly affiliated with Holley Street, Hackney; Harun Miah and Abdul Hannan, professionals in drug rehabilitation, formerly affiliated with Cannon Street Posse, Tower Hamlets and Raymond Douglas. director of Anti Youth Violence, Leading expert thinker and doer in field of gang crime prevention amongst others.

The hope is that these individuals will be able to share their struggles and how they managed to change things around. Their stories, it is hoped, will be able to relate to young people who may find themselves in a similar situation.

To find out more about the event which takes place on Wednesday 15th February at the Osmani Centre, click on the link below.

http://aashaproject.wordpress.com/