St Giles

St Giles St Giles is an award-winning charity using expertise and lived experiences to empower people who are not getting the help they need.
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We are a UK charity putting experience to work, through our peer led support model, on society's most complex problems.

Data can tell us what happened. Context helps us understand why.Numbers matter, but they never tell the whole story on t...
02/10/2026

Data can tell us what happened. Context helps us understand why.

Numbers matter, but they never tell the whole story on their own.

Behind the figures lie real people with ambitions, loved ones, challenges and hopes.

And around them lie systems and structures which can either hinder or help them.
And beyond this lies society with societal beliefs and thinking.

Numbers give us valuable insights into what is working and what isn’t.

But they only give us the ‘what’ and - at St Giles - we also need the ‘why’.

We need to know why a young person is frequently going missing.

We need to know why young people in a certain postcode have suddenly started carrying weapons.

We need to know why girls and young women don’t show up in the data when we anecdotally know they are affected by criminal and sexual exploitation.

Numbers tell us a lot but don’t give us the full picture. We need to look at what lies behind them.

20 years. 20 lessons.

Safeguarding can start with the basics.For a young person, safety can begin with a hot meal, a secure place to stay, a r...
01/10/2026

Safeguarding can start with the basics.

For a young person, safety can begin with a hot meal, a secure place to stay, a return to education or support to manage money.

When these foundations are missing, vulnerability grows.

A nourishing meal brings energy and resilience.

A secure home can close the door on harmful influences.

School or college can restore stability and open up opportunity.

A reliable, legitimate income makes it possible to plan for the future.

These are not luxuries. They are the building blocks of safety, dignity and hope.

Practical help is safeguarding.

20 years. 20 lessons.

Professional timescales and human timescales are not the same thing.A funding deadline should never become a deadline fo...
30/09/2026

Professional timescales and human timescales are not the same thing.

A funding deadline should never become a deadline for a young person’s recovery.
Contracts end. Funding cycles close. But a young person’s need for support does not disappear when the paperwork does.

Recovery is rarely linear. There can be setbacks as well as breakthroughs and staying alongside a young person through both is what makes lasting change possible.

Years of trauma and exploitation cannot be undone in a six-month funding window.

When support ends abruptly, progress can stall, trust can be broken and hard-won stability can unravel.

A trusted mentor leaves. A young person must tell their story all over again. An organisation loses specialist knowledge that took years to build.

For some young people, time with a trusted professional is their only safe space. Short-term, fragmented funding does more than create uncertainty: it disrupts the relationships that make support effective.

Lasting progress needs long-term funding, consistent support and relationships with time to grow.

Young people’s lives do not run in funding cycles. Our support should not either.

20 years. 20 lessons.

Every young person deserves the chance to dream and the support to turn those dreams into a future.Yet for too many, tra...
28/09/2026

Every young person deserves the chance to dream and the support to turn those dreams into a future.
Yet for too many, trauma, loneliness, exclusion and exploitation threaten to bury that potential before it can shine.
We are here to change that - to help each young person recognise their strengths, believe in what is possible and take back control of their future.

It starts by looking beyond the labels, the challenges and the circumstances and seeing the person. A person with hopes and talent. With the courage to reach for something better, when someone stands beside them.

After 20 years of this work, one truth has never changed: every young person we have met has wanted the chance to transform their life.

But systemic barriers can shut down opportunity, derail progress and keep young people trapped in situations they are fighting desperately to escape.

Without positive opportunities, vulnerability deepens and extraordinary potential is left unseen.

We can change that. See the young person. Stand beside them. Help turn hope into the brighter future they deserve.

20 years. 20 lessons.

Join us for the final session of St Giles’ Violence & Exploitation Learning Series Hidden Harm. Trusted Adults. Better R...
28/09/2026

Join us for the final session of St Giles’ Violence & Exploitation Learning Series Hidden Harm. Trusted Adults. Better Responses.

Led by St Giles’ Dr Junior Smart OBE, FCGI – a renowned expert in child criminal exploitation, county lines, youth violence and safeguarding – each of the five sessions will focus on a specific topic.

The final session – Twenty Years of SOS: What Young People Have Taught Us About Violence, Trust and Change
Monday 5th October 2026 12noon-14.00pm

Registration: copy this into your browser: https://www.stgilestrust.org.uk/join-st-giles-violence-exploitation-learning-series/

Or head over to our homepage and you will see the series advertised on there.

Five lessons from twenty years of SOS:
• Young people are not hard to reach, systems are often hard to trust
• Lived experience is powerful, but only when it is supported and professionalised
• Violence is rarely just about violence
• Families are part of the harm and the hope
• The next 20 years must move from intervention to influence

SOS should not only be celebrated as a project that helped young people. It should be positioned as a model that has shaped practice, challenged systems and still has something to teach.

Who should attend?

These sessions are FREE to anyone – but a must for professionals working with children, young people and families across safeguarding, education, health, youth justice, policing and community settings.

What are the learning outcomes?
These sessions will help practitioners:
• Recognise early signs of exploitation
• Understand grooming, coercion, and control
• Challenge assumptions and victim-blaming
• Improve safeguarding and engagement

We hope to see you on the 5 October.

Young people have taught us that professionals do not always understand their world as well as we think we do.What it me...
25/09/2026

Young people have taught us that professionals do not always understand their world as well as we think we do.

What it means to be a young person in 2026 can only truly be understood by someone living it.

Even lived experience does not necessarily close that gap. And that’s OK.

What matters is recognising that we may not fully understand what is happening in a young person’s life – the pressures they face, the world they are navigating, the goals they have or the people they look up to.

So our role is not to assume we know. It is to listen.

To give young people agency.

To involve them in designing the services and support they receive – with them, not for them.

To build trust through non-judgemental relationships.

And to stay alongside them when things don’t go to plan.

We may never completely understand another person’s world.

But we can be curious.

We can listen.

We can learn.

And we can be the trusted adult who keeps showing up.

Because sometimes, the most important thing we can offer a young person isn't having all the answers.

It’s being willing to listen, learn and stay.

20 years. 20 lessons.

A woman supported by our Footsteps project has broken away from an abusive relationship and taken a powerful step toward...
25/09/2026

A woman supported by our Footsteps project has broken away from an abusive relationship and taken a powerful step towards a safer future. Through sustained support from a colleague and work on the Freedom Programme, she has recognised the abuse, protected herself and found the courage to report breaches of the restraining order. Our colleague, who supports women impacted by the justice system, shared this moving update to start our week:

“Good result for a Monday morning!

What may seem like a small win, but its actually such a big step. One of my clients - who has been on the fence about getting back into an abusive relationship for the past two years despite having a restraining order out - has now decided to fully avoid the relationship and is developing the courage to report restraining order breaches.

It has taken a lot of work to get her not to lift the restraining order and today she shared her gratitude of basically being told to wait a period of time first to see if this male’s behaviour changes for the worse or she changes her mind. As we complete the Freedom Programme she becomes more aware of how abusive he actually was. Today she also shared that as we have been completing Freedom Program work she is experiencing memories of past abuse she has suppressed which has supported her choice to remove herself from him.

Just to add I am so happy that the Freedom Programme is something we are able to offer women on the Footsteps Service. It’s such a valuable course for women, not only victims but to give women guidance on what to be aware of and red flags in new intimate relationships. In a perfect world it would be a course that could be adapted and taught to girls in school. You never know - we may see less victims of abuse.”

A conviction tells you what somebody did. It does not tell you everything they can become.For someone stepping out of co...
24/09/2026

A conviction tells you what somebody did. It does not tell you everything they can become.

For someone stepping out of court or through a prison gate, it can be a pivotal moment in their life.

With the right support, opportunities and a fair chance, people can move beyond their past and build positive futures – for themselves, their families and their communities.

From entrepreneurs and community leaders to writers, academics and professionals, people with convictions make valuable contributions every day. Their experiences, skills and resilience can become powerful forces for good.

At St Giles, we are proud to be a leading employer of people with convictions. The SOS Project was a leading ex-offender led gangs intervention service which helped hundreds of young people transform their lives. We see first-hand that people can and do change. A person’s past should not define their future.

More than 12.5 million people in the UK have some form of criminal record, while almost 87,000 people are in prison across England and Wales.

When people face stigma, barriers and stereotypes, it becomes harder for them to move forward, find employment and build stable lives. But when we look beyond labels and recognise potential, the benefits are felt by individuals, families, employers and communities alike.

A conviction is part of someone’s story. It is not the whole story.

20 years. 20 lessons,

Yesterday, more than 100 people from across England and Wales came together for Together for Our Young People – a day of...
24/09/2026

Yesterday, more than 100 people from across England and Wales came together for Together for Our Young People – a day of honest conversations, shared learning and a collective determination to create a safer future for children and young people.

We were particularly delighted to welcome three Youth Leaders and Change Makers from Positive Youth Foundation, who helped to chair and facilitate the day, ensuring young people's voices were at the heart of the conversation.

We were also privileged to hear from an inspiring group of leaders working across violence and exploitation reduction, who generously shared their expertise, experience and learning with our guests.

The conference marked the beginning of St Giles' 20th anniversary of supporting children and young people affected by violence and exploitation.

Twenty years has taught us that there are no simple solutions. Tackling violence and exploitation requires relationships, collaboration, early intervention and – crucially – listening to the young people whose lives are most affected.

Yesterday brought together professionals and young people from across sectors and communities to ask some important questions:

What needs to change?
What have we learned?
And what can we do differently together?

The ambition is clear: a future where young people do not grow up in fear, where vulnerability is recognised earlier, where support stays with them when they need it, and where every young person has the opportunity to build a positive future.

Thank you to everyone who joined us, shared their experience and helped make the day possible.

This was the beginning of our 20-year anniversary. And it is also the beginning of the next chapter.

Lived experience is more than telling your story.It is about using what you have lived through to build trust, inspire c...
22/09/2026

Lived experience is more than telling your story.

It is about using what you have lived through to build trust, inspire change and create safe spaces where change can happen.

It means having a voice in the decisions that affect people – from individual support to the way services and systems are designed.

It means improving the support people receive by sharing insight, challenging practice, offering feedback and advocating for change.

It means challenging stigma, stereotypes and assumptions – and helping to change the narratives that shape how people are seen and supported.

At St Giles, we believe people with lived experience are experts by experience.

Their knowledge can influence more than an individual journey. It can help shape services, communities and systems – creating change that reaches far beyond the person whose experience started it.

Lived experience isn't just something you have. It can be something you use to make a difference.

20 years. 20 lessons.

Address

Georgian House, 64/68 Camberwell Church Street
London
SE58JB

Opening Hours

Monday 9am - 5pm
Tuesday 9am - 5pm
Wednesday 9am - 5pm
Thursday 9am - 5pm
Friday 9am - 5pm

Telephone

+442077088000

Website

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