Exit Foundation is an organisation dedicated to providing support to those ready to exit a life of crime, gang-related activity and those struggling with mental wellbeing & trauma and abuse. Through our tailored mentoring programme and gang awareness training, we help young people develop the tools they need to progress into employment, training, and education.
Exiting old life style into a brighter future
At Exit Foundation, we believe that the most important weapon is love and aim to always inspire this mindset. It is by trusting that love never fails that we can provide hope for a better life in those who need it most.
It is with your support that we are able to continue paving the way for people in need to find a brighter future. We appreciate and thank you in advance for any donations that you are able to give.
Our results
With the continual funding of our generous supporters, we have helped build a better future for the lives of many.
90
of our clients have entered education, training or employment
95
of our clients do not offend whilst on the programme
10
years of experience helping our clients discover a better future
95
of clients who had to move house due to safeguarding purposes were safely rehoused
Our 'Informed' App
Exit Foundation has worked with Vitools to create a ground-breaking interactive resource for parents and carers that informs and educates about gangs and grooming. The Informed app provides high quality content in the form of video clips and interactive tasks in order to offer an engaging and thought-provoking user experience.
Informed: Gangs, Grooming and Your Child was developed to educate and to help parents and carers in recognising the signs of grooming; to understand what child exploitation is and and where and when it is likely to happen. It aims to raise an awareness of the shared responsibility we all have to be proactive in safeguarding our children within our localities and within the wider societal context also.
Informed features an intuitive design free from clutter and easy-to-use. It contains 4 sections with 5 clips and a task per section. Informed offers cues to users to learn more through stoking interest. It even contains an interactive map with intel on known gangs, information about targeted hotspots, a terminology dictionary and real-life case studies of grooming.
Our impact
We are proud to have impacted the lives of many across the Essex and Greater-London area. Find out more about the people we have worked with below.
Trustees
Lakis
Lakis comes from a medical background He has developed an extensive experience in residential, commercial property and warehousing. Lakis has an ongoing relationship with both the Dioces of Rochester and Vinyard Churches and is now devoted to philanthropic purposes. He believes that forgiveness is the “FOOD” for the repair of Broken Hearts and the only route to forge a new way of life ahead, that’s always in the “Light” and never again the “Darkness”.
Pauline
Pauline joined the Exit Foundation team to offer professional development training to staff in care homes as well as writing and co-delivering gang awareness sessions. She is also involved in delivering skills for life courses for troubled youth in East London.
Mark
Mark is a Criminal Barrister at Great James Street Chambers in Central London. Mark’s practice is predominately defence, where he regularly appears in the Crown Court for cases involving serious violence, serious sexual offences, high value fraud cases and drug supply cases that involve human trafficking. Mark also has experience in extradition and is on the Transport for London licensing
panel.
Mark has gained a reputation as being a maverick who fiercely defends clients at court and rises to the challenge when dealing with complex legal issues and incorporating novel points of law into his submissions. Mark is approachable and down to earth, in no small part being a self-confessed proud East Londoner from very humble beginnings, where Mark views it as a priority to convey legal advice to his lay clients in a way they understand.
Before his career in law, Mark was a BBC Radio 1Xtra presenter and professional DJ for over 20 years playing throughout the UK, USA, Canada, and Europe. He was a music producer, having released an album with the Ministry of Sound, and has been responsible for several high-profile remixes of chart hits for artists such as David Guetta and Akon. Mark was an events promoter. With this wealth of
experience within the music industry, Mark welcomes instructions for reputation and brand management, contractual issues arising out of artist management and the live music events industry.
Mark previously worked for and still advises for leading Youth Justice Charity, Spark2Life, part of The London Borough of Waltham Forest’s Gang Prevention Programme based in Walthamstow, East London. He was the prison in-reach coordinator for 5 years and developed various programmes and initiatives that assisted young offenders involved in gangs to access housing, education, and employment. He regularly sat on the probation service MAPA panel, the London Borough of Waltham Forest Stop & Search committee and attended multi agency police intelligence meetings where Mark was instrumental in removing young people from the controversial Gangs Matrix. He also delivered one to one rehabilitative mentoring sessions with inmates inside HMP Feltham, HMP
Thameside, HMP Isis and other prisons across the country. Mark previously assisted with the research of several commissioned reports: ‘From Postcodes to Profit’ and the ‘Lammy Review’. He is keen to continue with this important work and welcomes instructions for all public inquests and inquiries.
Angela
Angela puts human connection at the centre of everything she does. Whether she is building bridges with customers and vendors to create successful projects and events or singing with her band, Angela simply loves to connect with people. With over 20 Years’ experience working in corporate Sales and Marketing and Events project management, Angela brings a wealth of knowledge to help accelerate the success and expansion of any organisation.
Throughout her work she has had the opportunity to fulfil her passion for travel throughout the UK, Europe, North America and the Caribbean, which has given her a unique gift of hospitality, a love and respect for diversity and other cultures.
Her other passion is Music and as a semiprofessional backing vocalist serval years ago, she has had the opportunity to record at Abbey Road Studios and sing on various stages including, Royal Albert Hall and Wembley to name but a few.
Born and raised in Berkshire her parents who came to the UK from St Kitts as part of the Windrush generation, always encouraged her to work hard and go after her dreams. She uses that same motivation to help others around her achieve their goals. She is known as a safe counsel for positivity and wisdom and a voice of calm especially in times of crisis. When she is not travelling or singing, Angela enjoys spending time with friends and family eating out, and pottering around her garden.
