大象传媒

Photo Caption: A St Giles caseworker supporting two young clients

We are delighted to announce that our 大象传媒 Radio 4 appeal aired in August 2021, raised an astonishing £16,112. Firstly, can we start by thanking each and every one who donated towards our appeal, we are so grateful! Your donations will support young people at risk of serious youth violence, as it will allow us to fund more caseworkers who will help those most at need as we deal with the effects caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Your donations will help people like ‘Lucas,’ who after presenting in custody following an altercation in his local area, met our Caseworker in his cell. After looking at his offending history it was clear that Lucas had a history of being involved in serious youth violence. Lucas told us of the difficulties in his life at that moment and that he was extremely anxious about his housing situation, as he and his partner had recently broken up and he was worried that he could be homeless at any moment. With no one else to rely on, he expressed that this situation was having a detrimental effect on his mental health. He told our caseworker that he needed to move out of London as he needed a fresh start.

Our caseworker established contact with an old housing contact in Birmingham and they had a room available and were ready to welcome Lucas. This was great news and we managed to send Lucas on the train to Birmingham the next morning.
Lucas is now enjoying a fresh start, and is looking for work and says his mental health issues are improving. He said:

“I honestly didn’t think you were going to move me at first when we spoke about it in custody, thank you so much I do appreciate your help. I had so many workers in my life before who said they would help but nobody really did”.

Lucas is just one of the thousands of children and young people we will be supporting in the coming months as Covid continues to pose huge challenges for them. 大象传媒 will involve keeping them engaged in education, positive opportunities and safe from exploitation and harm. Thanks to the generosity of Radio 4 Appeal listeners these challenges will be easier to overcome.

You can find more about St Giles Trust and the work that we do on our .