ınspıre ::URBAN IMPACT


OVER the last 18 years, I’ve listened to many young people, parents, teachers, policemen, politicians and academics discuss the drivers of gang culture and youth violence. It seems to me that these drivers


are complex and varied, ranging from family breakdown and educational failure, to poverty and a lack of meaningful employment. More than a third of young people


who were involved in last year’s riots had been excluded from school during 2009-10; 42% of 10-17 year olds charged claim free school meals and according to a BBC report, three- quarters of all those who appeared in court had a previous conviction or caution.


It is clear that a combination of these drivers often leads young people to become disconnected from the mainstream – to feel they have no place in their local community and no hope for the future. In short, these


young people lack love and a sense of belonging. I know that nothing justifi es or


excuses the terrible events that took place last August and that justice needs to be done and be seen to be done. But, are these the kind of


“What I’m interested in seeing you do is: sharing your food with th e hungry, inviting the homeless poor into your homes, putting clothes on the shivering ill-clad … If you are generous with the hungry and start giving yourselves to the down-and-out, your lives will begin to glow in the darkness, your shadowed lives will be bathed in sunlight.” (Isaiah 58:8-11, The Message) This passage is at the heart of XLP; it is the blood that gives life to all that we do. It is


remarkable that hundreds of years before Jesus came, thousands of years before today, Isaiah witnessed many of the same life struggles for those who are the most vulnerable in society. God continues to speak through Isaiah to us today; he sees their diffi culties and


encourages us to be part of bringing in a diff erent kingdom – to have a diff erent response. God is still deeply saddened when we fail to give help to the least, the last and the lost, and delighted when we do.


8


Time to step outside our wa


Why did last summer’s riots happen and how should Christians respond? PATRICK REGAN, founder of the youth work charity XLP, puts forward his ideas


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