Rise and Thrive create new safe space for Feltham youth

Following discussions with Hounslow Council, award-winning local charity Rise and Thrive has a new lease of nine months at Belvedere House, in Feltham.

This is an opportunity to further develop the activities of an organisation that’s developed a reputation for positive, youth orientated community work in the area with an initial offer for local young people aged 11-15 of two early evenings a week.

Last week, Leader of Hounslow Council, Councillor Shantanu Rajawat was joined by the charity’s Founder and CEO Darren Beecroft, Colleague Michelle Odell, and Councillor Samia Chaudhary, Cabinet Member for Education, Children, Skills, and Employment to hand over the keys.

Cllr Rajawat commented: “It’s absolutely essential to provide spaces for young people, using our own assets where we can. To have a space where they can express themselves and they’re not out on the streets and they’ve got a real sense of purpose.

“That’s why it’s so important we offered this space to Rise and Thrive because the services and experience they offer really does provide an outlet for their own activities but also working in teams and all those soft skills that come with it.”

Darren Beecroft added: “It’s about saving lives and changing lives. It’s that community within a community, the forgotten souls within recent events, how anti-social behaviour has escalated and it’s about that targeted work, just de-escalating the level of exploitation, criminality and all the anti-social behaviour that exists on the high street and navigating these children to a safe place where there’s something going on for them.

“Clearly they don’t feel safe, they don’t feel like they belong to the community and it’s about changing the way they perceive the community and also their relationships with their friends and their circles, and it’s about re-connecting back into their community where they can be safe.”

Activities at Belvedere House will be targeted at local young people known to Rise and Thrive and will be co-produced with the parents of the young people involved. Local police will also be central to the activity as part of the overall outreach associated with the project.

Rise and Thrive have been active in the west of the borough since 2021, including the Hanworth Centre on Hounslow Road.

Visit riseandthrive.org.uk and check council bulletins for further details of activities as they are confirmed.