Streetwork | History of streetwork

There was a great deal of concern in Edinburgh, toward the end of the eighties, about the problem of youth gangs. The Brixton riots had set of a wave of copy-cat fights in housing estates up and down the country and the press were quick to highlight even small local incidents as part of a wider moral panic about young people. At the same time there emerged a new youth gang culture known as 'soccer casuals'. These were young people who dressed in Italian style clothes and were involved in organised gang fighting mainly on football match days. The most notorious in Edinburgh were the Hibs Soccer Casuals. A Council report claimed that as many as 200 Soccer Casual 'swarmed' along Princes Street every weekend and that their main base of activities was thought to be in Burger King on the corner of Princes Street and Castle Street.

A city wide seminar was held in 1988 to consider what to do about the problem and it was agreed to form a new 'detached' youth project to work with the young people involved and tackle the problem of gang violence.

It was a further four years before the funding arrived to set up what has now become Streetwork, but was then known as The Central Edinburgh Detached Youth Work Association.

The unwieldy name was changed to Edinburgh Streetwork Project and it was formally launched in February 1992. The Evening News heralded our arrival with the headline: "Youth Crime Squad Ready To Swoop Down On The Twilight World Of Youth Crime." When we got out there on the streets, we found large numbers of young people hanging around the city centre who had drifted in from the outlying estates mainly because they were bored and wanted to meet pals. But, we very quickly found that there were many other young people out there who were in severe crisis, sleeping outdoors, involved in prostitution, underage runaways, injecting drugs and involved in crime.

Before long, we were also giving emergency assistance to rough sleepers of all ages. The fact that we had started as a youth project meant that we could have a different relationship with them than they were used to. Their experience of homelessness services tended to be inflexible primary health care, hostels and soup kitchens. Here we were, sitting on the pavements with them saying "lets get to know you first and you tell me what help you think you need. Then we'll help you sort it out on your terms." An example would be, where we knew someone had a chronic alcohol problem but they wanted vetinary treatment for their dog first. So we'd help them do that. Working in this way, trust is built up and people feel able to make real changes that help them get themselves on their feet and stay there.

Today we are out there on the streets every night of the year, in all weathers. In the city centre we look for the most vulnerable and give them crisis support, making sure they are safe and helping them to access emergency accommodation. In the housing estates, we educate young people to help them stay off drugs, away from crime, and to make better choices about sexual health. We guide every individual towards a better life, education, training and job opportunities.

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