St Giles Trust is a charity helping people overcome severe disadvantage to progress their lives. We want to see a society where everyone has the opportunity to fulfil their potential regardless of background. We help people experiencing issues such as homelessness, long-term unemployment, chronic social exclusion and exploitation through criminal gangs.
People helping people
We’re proud to support vulnerable and disadvantaged people in Lambeth – supporting young people and their families to escape gang violence and rebuild their lives, helping disadvantaged young people access employment opportunities, working with adults with complex needs to stabilise their situations and progress towards employment, and helping disadvantaged adults overcome barriers to paid work or improve their current employment circumstances.
Peer-led approach
Our award-winning peer-led approach puts former service users at the heart of our work, offering people with first-hand experience of disadvantage the opportunity to become professionally trained and qualified. We believe they hold the key to positive change in others. They use this training and personal experience to offer highly credible, high quality services. It means we can reach people in some of the most disadvantaged communities in boroughs – using our peer-led approach to connect with people who may struggle to engage with statutory services.
Partners in Lambeth
In Lambeth, we work with the family gangs unit to help gang-affected families. Recently, this included helping a 14-year-old who was struggling at school, had no positive male role models and was suffering from depression due to a family bereavement. Emotional and behavioural difficulties meant he had difficulty communicating. This young man was being exploited by elders into dealing drugs on his estate and out of London through county line activity. His St Giles Trust caseworker offered patient, non-judgmental help to get him re-engaged with education and acted as his advocate with authorities. He also arranged for mental health support. As a result, the young man ended his drug dealing.
Lives changed
This is just one of 24,982 lives St Giles Trust changed last year through services across England and Wales. Each life transformed had a positive ripple effect on families and communities.
For more information
See St Giles information pages and see their film
