Your Comms Group Case Studies.

The Violence Intervention Project:  

A little bit about The VIP

At Your Comms Group we know that beyond the telecoms and device management solutions we provide to them, all the organisations we supply, and support are striving to make a difference in some way. So, occasionally we like to raise awareness of that work by highlighting it here.

This month we’re showcasing the work of two of our customers and clients who are engaged in delivering vital and inspiring support and intervention for socially vulnerable young people.

ANEW Young Peoples Services helps to support care-leavers under the age of 18, and you can read more about them and their amazing work in the News section of the website.

We’re also extremely proud to work with the Violence Intervention Project (VIP), a West London-based charity that exists to help young people, up to the age of 25, who are either involved in youth violence and gangs, or at serious risk of it.

The charity work with high-risk young people who are involved in Serious Youth Violence, to create containing, therapeutic relationships and break cycles of violence. Their clients are referred to their services mostly via statutory bodies such as local authorities or youth offending teams, but they also receive self-referrals.

Following initial assessment, clients are matched with a therapeutic outreach worker (TOW). The TOW will start establishing trust and develop a relationship with the young person. Using a combination of therapeutic and practical techniques, the outreach team are all experienced and well versed in creating strong relationships with this ‘hard-to-reach’ cohort.

They are a client led organization and meet young people where they feel safe, whether this be in a local park, cafe or near their home. They aim to see clients once a week but adapt accordingly depending on their immediate need – some require more frequent contact (2-3 times per week). During these visits, TOW’s will use mentalization and shame-informed practice to unpack the causes of client’s behaviour, whilst also supporting with practical tasks such as food shopping and housing/job applications.

VIP adopts a range of intervention models, including...

Shame Informed Practice – this model recognises that the inclination to violence is often the result of deep-rooted shame and trauma. The fuels are fear and anger, triggers are distress and self-disgust, and this leads to an impulse to ‘hide’ from others and the self. This then manifests as an urge to attack (either others or themselves)

AMBIT – standing for Adaptive Mentalization Based Integrative Treatment, this is a whole-team approach designed for services who work with clients who present with multiple and complex problems, including mental health issue, substance misuse, developmental trauma, conduct disorder and violent offending behaviour. 

V.I.P. also uses a Public Health approach that, unlike many other intervention initiatives, sees violent behaviour as a disease to be treated rather than simply a social problem to be solved.

In this way, the insights of other public sector health and science disciplines – such as psychology and criminology – can be harnessed to fully understand each individual case that V.I.P. takes on.

And as if all this isn’t enough, the charity also undertakes its own research programmes to ensure it is able to deliver best practice throughout its intervention model and delivers educational learning within schools and organisations (at request) to reach at-risk young people as early as possible.

The work with schools is targeted with the intention of reaching young people whose domestic and social circumstances may leave them inclined to violent behaviour and making them aware of the support and guidance that is available.

Yet for all this, perhaps the most important message – and one that is at the centre of the Violence Intervention Project’s ethos – is the fundamental belief and acceptance that children are never born violent.

“The young people we support typically suffer from childhood abuse and neglect, followed by poverty, discrimination and a lack of supportive and positive relationships,” states the project’s website.  

“Feelings of shame, isolation and despair draw them into a world of gangs and crime. In the worst cases, this results in tragic acts of violence, with young lives lost through death and incarceration. 

“With your help, we can reach out. With relationships built on trust and respect, we provide support and opportunities to empower young people to transform their lives.” 

If you’d like to know more about the charity, you can visit their website. The website also has information on how we can all support its important work through donations and volunteering.