Leap stands for the leap of creativity, the leap into the unknown and the leap of change that we all have to make in confronting conflict.

Leap wants to create a legacy of conflict prevention for the future by training and supporting young people to prevent and manage conflict in their own communities.

How does Leap Confronting Conflict operate and what does it hope to change.

What do we know?

• 1 in 5 young people are victims of bullying
• 1 in 4 boys in Year 11 say they have carried a weapon to school or in the street
• 27 young Londoners were killed in youth violence in 2007
• 4 out of 10 teachers consider that schools are no longer safe places in which to work
• 1 in 5 thirteen year olds define themselves as gang members
• 4 out of 10 seven to eleven year olds agree it’s ‘alright to beat people up if they start it’
• There are 30,000 young offenders in London alone
• 4 out of 10 people want to live in areas only with people from the same ethnic background
• Between 22,000 and 60,000 young people are stabbed in the UK each year.

What else do we know?

• Conflict resolution skills can be learned
• Conflict can be transformed into positive personal and social learning
• Young people’s behaviour is more open to change than that of adults
• Peer leaders are powerful role models
• Young people are in a unique position to influence their siblings and peer groups
• All young people, given skills and support can contribute positively in their own community
• Many young people want to become mediators, trainers, facilitators, workshop leaders, volunteers, youth and conflict practitioners

Leap wants to create a legacy of conflict prevention for the future by training and supporting young people to prevent and manage conflict in their own communities

These are just some of the reasons why Leap Confronting Conflict is here.

On these pages you can discover more about Leap’s take on youth and conflict and much more about how and why we operate the way we do, our hopes and beliefs, theoretical base and relationships with others in the field and our positioning on current issues concerning young people, communities, violence and conflict.

Your decision. Your direction. Your Leap

“I have realised that now is the time for change. I can forgive my hurts and pains but I do not have to forget them.” Participant

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