Exit Foundation, formerly known as ‘E-Gangs’, was founded in 2012 by Paul Dayes. Our purpose is to help people exit a life of crime and gangs and step into a brighter future. For over 8 years, we have worked alongside the Criminal Justice System to provide a mentoring service that specialises in relationship building, early intervention, and prevention.
Our History
Our focus is always on leading and supporting people into employment, training, or education. To achieve this, we are proud to offer a full ‘support package’ utilising a multi-agency approach. This means that for any service we cannot deliver ourselves, we are able to point someone to a place with appropriate contacts and the right expertise.
At Exit Foundation, we believe that love never fails. It’s our mission to help individuals exit street life into a brighter future.
Due to his past experiences, Exit Foundation founder Paul Dayes has a passion for helping young people avoid making the same mistakes that he made in his life. Paul’s journey started when he was approached by the organisation ‘Gangsline’ in 2011 after hearing of his intentions to work with and support disaffected individuals. He was employed as a mentor and support worker, working with young people in in the Greater-London area, assisting ex-offenders into employment, training, and education.
In 2012, Paul founded the Exit Foundation project and developed a 16-week mentoring program designed to be tailored to each individual person. The purpose of this program is to get to grips with the root of someone’s issues and direct resources towards their individual needs.
The Exit Foundation was founded following the 2011 riots in London at The Broadwater Farm estate in Tottenham. This was the starting point of London’s two worst riots in history. Exit Foundation delivered its mentoring service on the estate to people that had been identified and referred to us by the local youth club.
Following this work, Paul was given the opportunity to lead the ‘Gangs Prevention Program’, a government-backed initiative in Waltham Forest. In this, Exit Foundation delivered mentoring and support into employment, training, and education to selected individuals over the age of 18. Paul spearheaded this project for 5 years, working alongside the police, probation, victim support, social services, and the youth offending services. During this time, he also developed a ‘Gangs Awareness’ training workshop for professional service providers.
After the success of the Gangs Prevention Program, Exit Foundation were approached with a vast number of referrals around the Greater London and Essex area. This involved delivering their 16-week bespoke mentoring program to a large number of young people considered to be ‘difficult individuals’.
In January 2018, Exit Foundation were commissioned by M.O.P.A.C (Mayors Office for Policing and Crime) to carry out work in Newham with young people under the age of 18. At this time, Paul recognised the need for young people to obtain qualified training in order to enhance their chances of obtaining meaningful employment. He also observed that there was a need for ‘Reparation’ workshops at the Youth Offending Service for young people on extended court orders. As a solution to both of these needs, Paul developed 3 AQA certified workshops in Motor Mechanics, Pat Testing and Furniture Warehouse Skills.
In March 2019, we were commissioned by Newham Children’s Social Care to work with selected individuals who they deemed would benefit from our early intervention and mentoring program.
We currently work with commissioned and non-commissioned clients with the continual purpose of helping individuals turn their life around, visualise a brighter future, and help build a better society.
All staff are DBS checked and compliant with GDPR data protection.
Exit Foundation staff are trained in the utilisation of contextual saefguarding and believe in the sharing of information to relevant professional when necessary.
