Seb has just delivered a talk at his school on knife crime.
On stage he’s confident, passionate, and held the attention of his audience like a professional motivational speaker. He’s doing well at school, and wants to qualify in a trade, maybe plastering or joinery.
Twelve months ago, Seb’s story was very different. He was referred to an Oasis youth team from a hospital bed, after a machete attack that left him with serious wounds to his head and both hands. He was well known to police and had a history of going missing from home and carrying knives. He was linked to organised crime groups. He’d also been a victim of knife crime, robbery, assault, and modern slavery. At 15 years old, he was accessing education in an alternative provision based in a gym, traumatised, and terrified for his safety.
From that hospital bed, Seb agreed to meet with an Oasis mentor, together with his Mum. Over the next months he was relocated for his own protection, but he met weekly with his mentor and began to work through what had happened to him, and the trauma that he had experienced. Slowly he began to develop coping mechanisms, build a support system, and start thinking about what he wanted his future to be. He’s been able to move back home and begin to thrive.
