FAST London

The FAST project was established in 2012 to work with young people, aged 9 – 25, on the Patmore Estate in Battersea, London. The majority of those growing up on the Patmore Estate face a number of challenges, such as overcrowding, unemployment, deprivation and poverty. They are also at a higher risk of getting involved in gangs, crime and anti-social behaviour, which have life-long consequences. The project has been highly successful in tackling these issues and is seen as crucial to the area by young people, residents, youth services and the police. In January 2019, e:merge, the umbrella charity that FAST has been part of since 2015, decided to focus its efforts in the North of England. The trustees and FAST Leadership Team decided that FAST should establish itself as an independent charity to continue operations. To this end, FAST has entered a “Transition Phase’ with the goal of establishing itself as an independent charity and formally re-launching in April 2020. Whilst the remainder of 2019 will now be focussed on establishing the new charity, it is of the utmost importance that FAST’s existing youth work activities continue throughout this period of change. Trusted relationships are crucial to achieving sustainable change with communities and young people, and if the existing work were to cease, even for a short period, these critical relationships would be lost, potentially taking months or years to re-establish. The purpose of this paper is to ask you to partner with the FAST Project during the transition phase. This is to ensure that staff and resources remain able to deliver the FAST youth services; and relationships with young people and the community are maintained and continue to grow.