Twelve years ago, Hawksmoor Youth Hub got a new valuable member of staff, Claire Hallinan (47), the youth service unit manager. As an experienced youth worker, Hallinan has seen both good and bad. Hallinan started as a nursery nurse. Hawksmoor Youth Hub serves around 500 people in the area.
Hawksmoor is situated by the border between Royal borough of Greenwich and London borough of Bexley. Hawksmoor is a neighborhood in Thamesmead, compared to the rest of the Borough Hawksmoor is a more deprived area. In these times of the cost-of-living crisis, young people must get a place where they feel welcome and can be warm.
“We are all in classes; there is low income, you know, there’s a lot of deprivation in this area,”
Hallinan said.
According to Trust for London´s London poverty sheet in 2021/2022, 21 percent of people lived in households with less than 60 percent of the UK’s median income. Out of this, 36 percent of children in the borough lived in households that had an income less than 60 percent of the UK median. It is also estimated that 15,6 percent of people who live in Greenwich have an income under a living wage. The GCSE attainment was worse in 2022 than the average London Borough, with 69.8 percent passing with grades nine to four. According to the latest ONS census in 2011, 58 percent of Thamesmead identifies as non-white (the area surrounding Hawksmoor).
Hallinan explains that due to low income in the area, many young people feel alienated from the other parts of Greenwich. Many of the young residents in the Hawksmoor area say they don’t feel welcome in the more affluent areas.
“I’m always here to listen with my ears,” and “Always be open-minded,” Hallinan gave crucial advice about her work at Hawksmoor. Many young people may feel angry, sad, or frustrated in this line of work. Hallinan explains, therefore, that you must be careful about how you treat the youth.
During the interview, Hallinan needed to put Hawksmoor on the map. According to Hallinan, Hawksmoor is a low-income area where young people live in overcrowded houses and many have parents who work long hours. Unfortunately, the staff often see young people ending up in gangs or on drugs on the streets. The staff at Hawksmoor Youth Hub are working to include those young people struggling with staying within the norms and expectations of society.
Hallinan grew up in the local area and developed a passion for the youth there. “When you say Greenwich, almost no one thinks about Thamesmead and Hawksmoor,” Hallinan said.
According to Hallinan, knife crime among youth is higher in the area surrounding Hawksmoor than in the rest of the borough. Therefore, the lovely workers at Hawksmoor are fighting crime and knife use in the area. One of the measures to keep knives out of the club is they have a new knife-proof two-entry door with a metal detector. That way, they enter the door and can come in if they like what they see.
During a Winter event at Hawksmoor Youth Hub, the young volunteers wore different costumes to entertain the most youthful youth club attendants. The young volunteers at Hawksmoor help with everything. They are mascots during events, cook and help keep things organized. This is where you can see why the volunteers do what they do.
Young volunteers are vital in Hawksmoor´s day-to-day operations. “It’s a very safe space where, while you’re inside, having fun, but when you’re outside, sometimes it can be a bit rowdy,” said Stanley (12), one of the young volunteers. The teens and children at Hawksmoor think Hawksmoor Youth Hub is a place where they can come and be safe and have fun.
“Sometimes, when you’re volunteering, there can be hard work.”
Said James (16).
The staff at the Hawksmoor are taking a stand against the consequences of these problems, and they are trying to fix them in the area. With the Stay Warm Stay Safe service, Hallinan and the rest of the staff fight the rising number of people who can’t pay their bills. They provide services for keeping fuel prices down and healthy during cold winter. Since Hawksmoor works with many children with special needs, they help parents apply for benefits and have dialogs with schools.
In cooperation with the council and Hallinan, they send out a survey every six months to a year. That way, they can monitor how the local community is changing. Using these surveys, they can intervene with measures to prevent harmful influences in the area.
