Several years ago, Toffee Park was a taboo in Finsbury. Following the murder of a teenage boy outside of the adventure park, as well as a spate of anti-social related issues and crimes, the area developed a poor reputation.
Now, with the help of dedicated and passionate youth workers, the Toffee Park Youth Project is beginning to leave its troubled past behind. It’s starting to help the less advantaged youth make the most of their future.
Most of the young people involved live in deprived social housing, just spitting distance away from the City. Alongside this, in 2012, there were children from around 32 different ethnic backgrounds at Toffee Park, but all were united by disadvantaged backgrounds.
So far this year, 200 youths have been helped at Toffee Park, alongside another 114 who have visited KCP Youth – a project run by Islington Council just around the corner.
Vikki Ball, Senior Worker at Toffee Park Youth Project, hailed the project as “one of the most diverse projects I’ve ever worked in in my life. There’s no clear race or religion throughout the youth club”.
A big part of engaging these young people is empowerment and responsibility, according to the project’s staff.
One of this year’s biggest events was the White Cross Street Party in July, which hosted stalls, art installations and performances. The big focus, according to Ms Ball, was on youth empowerment: the young people “planned every tiny part of it that you can imagine”.
However, the project still faces some tension and resistance within the community. Ms Ball identified the attitude of some families as a big issue: “You’re pulling in one direction and they’re pulling in another. You try and teach them right from wrong and then send them home and the parents tell them the complete opposite.”
Quite often, the youth who attend Toffee Park experience racism, aggression, gang activity, drugs and crime at home, which is hard to combat in young people’s lives.
The families, according to Ms Ball, “see support as ‘we don’t want social services around’ – mention anything about supporting the child and they’re just so reluctant.
“I love watching them go from a young person who just wants to play pool to a young person who actually thinks ‘I can do something, I can make a change, I have the power to do something I want'”
“People either love the place or they hate the place – it’s a real Marmite project. There are young people who just can’t sing its praises enough and then there’s others who are just too nervous to come.”
This, according to Toffee Park staff, is an issue based on the park’s crime-stricken past. Alongside the murder, the project previously was run with few rules, leading to it hosting anti-social behaviour and becoming mistrusted by the local community.
This is one the main issues Ms Ball and her team aims to counteract in the future. The more Finsbury youth trust the project, the more likely they are to help leave its troubled past behind.
The youth worker said that setting up “empowering” projects which give young people responsibility was a great way to do this. She said that she was looking forward to setting up further projects and watching youth develop from it.
“I love watching them go from a young person who just wants to play pool to a young person who actually thinks ‘I can do something, I can make a change, I have the power to do something I want’.”
Digital journalist student Interactive Journalism at City University London.
@AshleyKirk92