Youth Justice: On the ground - Gym Project

Funding: £50,000 from a number of sources including Positive Activities for Young People, Kensington and Chelsea Youth Service and the Community Safety Team

Aim: To create a diversionary activity for young offenders and young people at risk of offending.

The Gym Project was launched in Kensington and Chelsea in January 2006 to reduce youth crime in the area. Young people aged between 11 and 17 are referred to the project by Kensington and Chelsea Youth Offending Team and are assessed to decide if they should be put forward for group programmes or programmes on their own. The gym is situated in a basement under the youth offending team building and is used primarily by the young people.

Mark Downie, specialist intervention manager at the youth offending team, says the programme has good equipment and has been well received. "It has been well attended and has provided a source of engagement for young people who otherwise wouldn't have been doing anything," he says.

Downie says a review showed that where young people were involved with the project for six months there was a reduction in reoffending and, on average, young people stay with the project for between four and eight months.

"It's a chance to talk to the young people about what's going on in their lives," he says. "While there is a lot about exercise and nutrition it's also a place where they can go to discuss what's going on with them."

The success of the programme means that it is expanding and in July £137,000 of funding was secured to start a football programme.