About SAYLE

Save a Young Life Everyday

"Life's most persistent and urgent question is 'what are you doing for others?'

We must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools."

 - Martin Luther King, Jr.

These quotes summarise the motivation behind the creation of the SAYLE project: (Save A Young Life Everyday).

SAYLE has sprung from the heart of the Midlands- conceived by Bobby Woods, who found himself profoundly affected by the continuing spate of unjustifiable killings. Having witnessed the reconciliation two decades ago with the release of Nelson Mandela and numerous musical performances in concert for Desmond Tutu, Bobby brings a vision of hope to the youth of the UK. Since its conception, SAYLE is gaining support throughout the UK with the endorsement of the project by such notable people as the Archibishop John Sentamu, Bishop Derek Webley and other church leaders, to the Home Office, the Black and Asian Police Association, 100 Black Businessmen and the support of schools throughout the regions.

SAYLE aim to:

• work to support and inform young black people to initiate positive action and responses
• openly address the fear, confusion and isolation in relation to gun and knife crime, particularly endemic in our black urban communities across the UK
• transform the culture of hate, death and acceptance of gun and knife crime that has become second nature to far too many disaffected youths
• to create a culture of recognition, action and support that will be beneficial to the youth of today and the children of tomorrow
• create a support framework that will operate at a fundamental local level as well as being given regional and national support and recognition

Core Target Audiences and Partners

We will initiate and develop work with and amongst three core groups:

Local Communities:

• Establishing a framework for supporting children and their families in the communities in which they live, creating awareness through schools, churches and other like-minded institutions
• Funding, setting a framework for and initiating 'community action centres'. These will act as a focus for ongoing youth activity programmes to get young people off the streets and engage with them, and their families, via positive action plans, workshops, music, sports and arts orientated programmes. Beyond our initial work, these will be run and developed by the local communities for the local communities
• Liaising with victims, perpetrators and families of those affected by knife and gun related crimes to establish a dialogue and inform the nature and focus of our project activity
• Initiating support networks for affected communities in partnership and collaboration with other community and support organisations as necessary
• Raising awareness of issues pertaining to gun / knife culture initially in the target cities of Nottingham, Birmingham, Leeds, London, Bristol, Liverpool, Manchester

Police, Young Offender’s Institutions and Family Support Networks:

• Liaising with these agencies to facilitate better communications, awareness of issues, and supporting the establishment integrated and holistic plans of community action to deal with young offenders, their families and others who are affected by these crimes

Local, Regional and National Government:

• Working alongside government bodies to open up the debate, raise awareness of positive action
• Communicate to inform policy and influence governmental investment to address the issues around knife and gun crime at a community level

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