THE MPs for the town centre and the north of the borough have put their weight behind the campaign to keep the SOS Project in Croydon.
Croydon North MP, Steve Reed, said he had written to Boris Johnson to demand he tell the council to keep the anti-gang and knife crime charity in the area and will be visiting them next week.
Meanwhile, Croydon Central MP, Gavin Barwell, has spoken to the council leader Mike Fisher and said he will work with businesses to help find the charity funding.
Mr Reed said: "I've written to the Mayor of London to ask for his help to persuade Croydon's Tories to get real about knife crime and restore funding to this project instead of keeping the funding stashed away in a bank account."
Mr Barwell said: "I will be bringing this up with the council. It is not a time for a charity like this to leave the borough." He also said he would visit the group.
The SOS Project was funded by the High Street Fund – a temporary trust offered to businesses affected by the 2011 riots – but the fund finished in November last year.
Since then, the council has used part of its under-spend to pay for the charity to remain in Croydon but has failed to find more permanent funding, meaning it will have to leave within the month.
Eight other London boroughs use their Mayor's Office for Policing And Crime money to pay for the SOS Project.
The council has said three of its six MOPAC funded groups are gang-related - Breaking the Cycle, Empower Sexual Exploitation and Gangs Intervention.
However, SOS says its greatest strength is using ex-offenders as case workers, which allows young people to feel understood and trusted.
Up to 87 per cent of those using SOS across London said the process had changed their attitude to offending.
The group was also found to target the four issues most likely to lead teenagers to re-offending – anti-social behaviour, pro-criminal attitudes, lack of work and homelessness.
Junior Smart, founder of the project, said: "SOS works with some of the most disengaged young people trapped in lifestyles around repeat offending and prison.
"They need something very different to standard services."
To donate to the SOS Project visit www.stgilestrust.org.uk and click on the "donate" button at the top left hand side of the screen.
Please specify "For SOS Project Croydon" in the message space. Alternatively, call 020 7708 8000.
Any businesses interested in supporting the project can e-mail junior.smart@stgilestrust.org.uk
