Lambeth Council cut nearly two thirds of its youth service funding in last decade
Over the last decade, the borough of Lambeth has cut 64% of it’s youth service funding and according to a new report.
‘See Us, Hear Us: On Growing up and Girlhood in Lambeth’ suggests the borough is failing black girls.
It suggests without targeted funding some of the most vulnerable youth risk slipping through the cracks.
We spoke to one of the co-authors of the report Ebinehita Iyere who is also the founder of Milk Honey Bees, which is an organisation helping to empower young women and girls, about the findings of the report and how young black girls in Lambeth want to be seen and heard for who they are.
London Live reached out to Lambeth Council who said:
Cllr Dr Mahamed Hashi, Lambeth’s Cabinet Member for Safer Communities said: “I have read this research, and I thank the young women who have taken part in it, including Ebinehita Iyere. They have shared valuable insights and experience of the council, the police, the NHS and other public services in their borough. There is learning her for us, and our public sector partners.
“We are keen to work with community members who can feed in their real life experiences to develop solutions. This is an ongoing effort. For example our work around street safety and to tackle violence against women and girls has been produced in partnership with community representatives.
“Our ‘Look out for Lambeth’ campaign public information campaign seeks to change men’s behaviour in relation to on street harassment. This has been reinforced with trained new council staff who are experts in both spotting and preventing violence against women and girls.
“Our work is underpinned by a commitment to address racism and discrimination.
“Work like the See Us, Hear Us research reinforces the value of this approach and in giving a voice to all groups in our borough.”
Milk Honey Bees also published a book ‘Girlhood Unfiltered’ – mentioned there in that report – which is a collection of pieces from Black teenage girls detailing their experiences growing up in South London.
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