From Emma Jones 

I work for a children's charity called ThePlace2Be which offers therapeutic and emotional support for primary aged children in schools. I have felt compelled to write to your paper in order to highlight the unique service that The Place2Be provides, not just to children, but to the parents, teachers and other adults which surround them.

The recent spate of tragic killings in South London over the past few weeks appears to have parallels with the London of the Nineteenth Century. In this 'Fagan Society', where orphaned children ruled their neighbourhoods through crime and violence in gangs, there was no value attributed to the lives of London's citizens. It startles me that in the Twenty First Century this scenario seems to still exist. People live in fear of gangs and 'hoodies' who rule estates and boroughs through terror and violence, willing to kill a person, even a child, with no thought of the value of that person's life but only thoughts of street credibility. It is tragic that we, as human beings and more importantly as adults, have let such a situation arise.

These killings are carried out by young people who are lost and frustrated and it is our responsibility to reinstate the morals and principles that once governed our towns. We must mitigate for misbehaviour, stop demonising children who have become dislocated from society and learn to listen. The recent UNICEF report, which paints a bleak outlook for the children of this nation, should be inspiration enough for us all. Surely such findings should be inspiration enough for us to look for different ways that we as individuals can group together as a society and help these young individuals, for this is what they need. We need to better equip ourselves with the skills to resolve this anarchic position. The Place2Be's mission in training adults to relate to children in a more emotionally literate manner is one unique and inspiring answer to this problem we have in Britain of children from poorer communities becoming isolated and neglected by us all.

The Place2Be offers the prevention as well as the cure. As Sir Ian Blair and the government search for a remedy to this situation of children carrying guns and knives on our streets we must take it upon ourselves to lend an ear to the young, offer them support, help protect them and more importantly get them to communicate. This is the mission of The Place2B. We have 6 areas of London in which we run projects in schools to provide counselling to children. Children can refer themselves or teachers and parents can alert The Place2Be School Project Manager of the need for a child to be seen; if it is deemed necessary, children are then referred straight away to one of our committed Volunteer Counsellors for 1:1 work. Our project model escalates a referral process which might otherwise take months to be dealt with by local authorities.

Simultaneously, The Place2Be works with Parents, helping them to better talk to and relate to their child and, in some cases, to counsel them with the stresses they are encountering in their lives. The charity also offers extensive training services, where any adult that comes into regular contact with children, from Teaching Assistants to Midday Supervisors, can learn how to communicate better with children. The promotion of this sort of emotional literacy between children and the adults around them is vital, particularly in a society where many children feel dispossessed and helpless.

I hope that The Place2Be's mission might appeal to those readers who work with, or are the parents of, children where they can see a need for such a service.

Furthermore, I hope the work might appeal to those who are in training to be or who are already clinical counsellors, so that they might join us in delivering this crucial service to children. The Place2Be is committed to placing experienced, skilled and committed counsellors into schools as both project managers and volunteer counsellors and is looking to expand its work, and therefore the amount of children we reach, all the time. For further information on The Place2Be service or for information about how you could work or volunteer for the charity, please look at our website: www.theplace2be.org.uk or telephone: 0207-780-6138. It certainly seems to me that the need for a charity such as The Place2Be has never been so great.

Yours faithfully

Emma Jordan