Maintaining support relationships through a range of digital tools
Carney’s Community are a youth charity based in Battersea, working to engage disadvantaged young people with unconditional long-term support and empathy.
Alongside their boxing fitness sessions, they provide mentoring, youth work, business development and a community to which young people can belong.
The aims of the charity are to use this positive engagement to reduce offending, re-offending and anti-social behaviour, whilst improving social mobility and community cohesion.
Building skills, discipline and self respect are central to their ethos.
The covid-19 pandemic forced Carney’s Community to close down their centre, meaning a pause to all in-person boxing fitness sessions.
“We’ve had quite a lot of our older participants come and get involved and offer support”
George Turner, Chief Executive of Carney’s Community
The need to keep socially distant also impacted their ability to do their crucial 1-2-1 support work.
In response, Carney’s Community has moved online and found new ways to support their community.
While some face- to-face work is still being run with the most in need, support is now being delivered through the digital platforms that work for their participants: social media, phone calls, WhatsApp.
Meanwhile virtual boxing sessions have become the norm, either through Instagram live or Zoom.
Wellbeing packs are being distributed to the community alongside 80 free meals a week, and additionally help is being given around access to IT and data – crucial for disadvantaged young people to access the support they need.
