“I felt myself getting pulled into gang life. I saw gangs as my only future, my only friends, and my family. It wasn’t just the music that helped me see what a healthy relationship was… it was everything MTME did for me. I have a future now.”
– Service user
Music to My Ears (MTME) has two main aims:
- to support young people who have been identified as being involved in, or at risk of, Child Criminal Exploitation (CCE), and
- to reduce their contact with the criminal justice system.
This is achieved by using a number of creative engagement tools such as music production, photography, film making, baking, health and fitness, and creative writing. We support young people to use these creative processes to explore their feelings and issues that are problematic for them.
When a young person is in service, we take on the role of advocate, supporting them to address issues around education, engagement with local police and supporting appointments such as CAMHS, out of court disposal meetings, Child in Need meetings, or any other statutory or non-statutory appointment they would like support with. Young people will work with a dedicated support worker that will be with them throughout their whole journey. They will learn what healthy relationships look like and discover how to increase life opportunities while learning how to step away from engaging in criminal activity.
We aim for young people to be able to leave service with renewed confidence, emotional health resilience tools, better engagement with partner agencies, trust in other services, and develop new skills and hobbies that will allow them to thrive as they grow as individuals.
Outcomes
This year, 47 young people (at the time of writing this report) received one-to-one support from Music To my Ears, with a further 60 at-risk young people receiving CCE-specific education in small group settings. Group settings have included short-stay schools, looked after child settings, youth centres, and traditional education settings as well as outreach work at local youth hot spots.
- 94% of young people reported an increase in trust and hope.
- 98% reported improvement in identity and self-esteem.
Headline statistics
Over the past 12 months we have worked hard to achieve outcomes that not only, and most importantly, positively impact vulnerable young people, but also meet the key areas outlined in the initial CCE bid. As a new service, no figures existed to work against, however through a relentless work ethic and belief in the good the MTME project does, we have achieved the following headline statistics:
– 47 young people referred into service
From implementation, we have built the service, and the trust in the service, to achieve 47 referrals in the first year. At a level of almost one new young person per week who is considered an experiencing, or emerging, CCE risk. This shows a real term impact, offering 47 young people who previously may not have received support, the opportunity to grow and thrive in a supportive and caring environment.
“I felt lost. I was in debt to a gang, and I couldn’t see a way out. It took six months of hard work, but I am back in college now and working part-time. Thank you, MTME!”
– Service user
– 621 interventions delivered
This figure is a real triumph, and a testament to the frontline workers and the commitment shown by the young people in service. 621 interventions have taken place in 2022-23. That is an additional 621 opportunities that have been taken to support and safeguard some of the county’s most vulnerable young people.
“I didn’t want to be the next one stabbed, or the next boy who stabbed someone. I got clarity from Catch22. They took all the noise out of my situation and let me focus on making my life better.”
– Service user
– 24 positive closures, to date
Of the 47 new referrals into service this year, we have already achieved 24 closures, which is a positive/planned closure rate of 100%. Due to the vision exercised by the PCC when granting the CCE contract, we have been able to offer longer, more intense, and ultimately more meaningful interventions, that have resulted in us being able to navigate a positive closure for each young person that has engaged with us.
“I’m a true tradesperson now! Well, I am an apprentice tradesman. Before I met MTME, the best I could have hoped for was to be a robber or a dealer. I got to that fork in the road, and they showed me the right way to travel.”
– Service user
– 79 partner agency support sessions
One of the foundations of any successful project is partnership agencies working together. The approach that MTME has towards engaging young people and the years of expertise within Catch22’s knowledgeable teams (across substance misuse, employability and more) allows us to support other agencies with joint sessions, engagement tools, and building trust in other services. We have paired up with partners on 79 occasions during 2022-23 and will endeavour to keep this trend on an upward trajectory over the next 12 months.
– 28 training workshops delivered
As with partner agency support we put a real emphasis on training and workshop sessions. In the year 2022-23, we completed 28 sessions: working with groups of targeted young people to educate about CCE. or working with youth groups and youth workers to offering training around CCE and the push/pull factors that can be present when a young person is groomed into a CCE county lines gang environment.
– 73 Risk Management Meetings (RMMs) engaged with
Risk Management Meetings are a vital part of the fight against CCE in the county of Surrey. It’s an opportunity to talk to professionals with years of hands-on experience, as well as offer our services to professionals working with young people who might benefit from the interventions. The year 2022-23 saw us engage with 73 of these meetings, and we hope to significantly increase this figure moving forwards.
Demographics
Monitoring demographics gives us a clear idea of how the service is working and areas we need to improve in. Year 1 of the exciting new Police and Crime Commissioner funding have revealed some interesting areas of focus and potential improvement for Year 2:
- Gender: Gender has been heavily weighted towards males, with just 7% of referrals being female and 2% being non binary.
- Ethnicity: Ethnicity within the service is fairly consistent with the county-wide demographic of residents, as per the most recent census figures.
- Age range: The service has seen a bias towards 14–18 year olds and, due to the nature of the service, this was expected but certainly leaves room for prevention work with younger cohorts.
- Referral pathways: The referral pathway has been an even mix, with police referrals topping the list followed closely by Risk Management Meeting partners.
- Health: In previous years, Music to My Ears was focused on young peoples’ mental healt,h as a mechanism for referral into service. As such, our health demographics would reflect this. As the project is now focusing on CCE vulnerabilities as a referral mechanism, we were unsure what the health demographics would look like. What we have seen is a massive two-thirds of young people referred in suffering from a reportable disability and/or health issue. 28% of all young people in the service are suffering with mental health issues, with another 27% reporting Autistic Spectrum Disorder (both diagnosed and suspected).
Demographic impacts
The first year on work in this area has thrown up some really useful data that can be used to improve and expand the service offer moving forwards.
Our key areas of focus are based on current statistics. For example, we know that boys 14-18 with mental health issues and / or ASD are the most likely to enter the service, therefore boys with these identified needs under 14 would be the best focus for prevention work. We have also seen a very small number of female referred into service, so we need to further understand if this is accurate or if there is an assumption that females get referred to CSE services by default.
Gender:
The gender results are heavily weighted towards males. This result requires further examination in the coming year to understand if it really is the case that mainly boys are victims of CCE in the area, or if other genders are being referred into other services by default (such as potential female victims of CCE being referred into child sexual exploitation (CSE) projects rather than CCE projects, or joint working with both services).
Ethnicity:
Referrals into the service have seen consistent demographic levels with the most recent census figures available. In previous years, Music to My Ears has seen a similar results with no obviously out-of-kilter results. This is reassuring as it suggests that we have a good coverage and trust amongst young people from all backgrounds throughout the county.
Age range:
We saw a massive 95% of young people referred into service aged 14-18. Due to the nature of CCE victims, it is not unexpected however it does show that moving forwards a prevention initiative could be useful. As young people gain more personal independence, it appears they are more susceptible to criminal exploitation. With some targeted and meaningful prevention work, it might be possible to divert young people before they are indoctrinated.
Referral pathways:
A real triumph of the MTME – PCC project is the buy-in from partner agencies. We have seen a real spread of referrers across all key partners. We hope to keep this number consistent across the life of this project, and build on the trust partners have put in us.
Health:
Health is an area that has produced statistics that need will be closely monitored over the coming year. It was expected that we would have a level of young people with specific needs and mental health issues in service, but the volume was a surprise. Now we have a baseline, we will be able to measure the trends with health need, and hopefully identify areas where prevention education can be deployed. As a result of these outcomes, we have already started designing workshops with partners in substance misuse and the WiSE child sexual exploitation service. These workshops will be delivered in settings that are geared towards supporting young people with these specific needs. This gives a real opportunity to find the best areas to target with early intervention messages alongside the continued specific CCE support.
Impact
Music to My Ears is the only project in Surrey focusing specifically on victims of and young people at risk of CCE. The project has completed the first year of work under our exciting new commission from the Surrey Police and Crime Commissioners’ Office, having completed design, implementation and beginning delivery in record time.
MTME is delivering across the county of Surrey, carrying out one-to-one interventions, groups workshops, partnerships session with police, children services, and third-party NHS suppliers, and is now delivering workshops to targeted groups in most of the county’s alternative education settings.
The impact of this is significant reach and coverage for the service. We can deliver in the community as a result of independent referrals, at community settings as a result of non statutory referrals, or in formal settings such as school or out-of-court disposal meetings, as a result of statutory organisation referrals.
We measure impact in both a qualitative and quantitative way. We have seen 94% of young people leaving the service with an increased level of trust and hope in the future, and the same levels have been achieved in self esteem and self identity. Over 98% of young people who left the service in a planned way had a positive and relevant onward referral.
“Music to My Ears has been good for my future. I learnt how to produce music and created a CV. I built my skills up through this project, which has prepared me for working life. It’s helped to clear my mind by letting me focus on music in a safe space and move away from unhealthy relationships.”
“I have got a lot more confidence now, I have learnt what exploitation means and how I was a victim. I have learnt that it is time for me to start healing”
– Service user
Case study
At the time of referral:
- Kieran was rated as experiencing CCE at a Risk Management Meeting.
- Kieran was under investigation for offences against the person, and possession of controlled substances.
- Kieran had multiple missing episodes.
- Kieran was using substances and not engaging in education.
MTME engaged Kieran in interventions including:
- one-to-one songwriting / music production sessions,
- lyric writing (focused on lyrics that were relevant to him),
- discussions surrounding offending and the risks associated with criminal behaviour,
- comprehensive cannabis education, covering the impact on mental health, risks, and harm reduction,
- tolerance and tolerance breaks discussed and explained, and
- reduction tips/strategies.
Following these interventions:
- Kieran is now engaging with professionals from police partners to mental health support.
- Kieran has a part-time job, which they are motivated to go to and enjoy, with regular praise from their employer.
- Kieran has reduced cannabis consumption from problematic levels.
- There have been no further arrests reported.
Challenges
We are still seeing a higher number of school refusers and social anxieties than pre-pandemic. As a result, we often need more sessions before young people are ready to engage at the same level as before COVID-19.
We have tried to spend more time delivering in short-stay schools. This is currently an ongoing process, however we will need to develop a bespoke lesson plan that is able to both engage and educate the unique cohort.
We have seen the number of locations that we had previously been available to use for music session decrease. As public sector estates reduce in size, we will need to identify new locations in some of the more rural parts of the county.
Working as a team, we managed to identify free software that would work on any smart device. We trained ourselves in how to work the software and produced a series of weekly videos on our YouTube channels showing tips and tricks. We have also developed a “takeaway” pack that gives young people tasks, challenges, and pointers when they move on from the project.
Catch22 Surrey has worked on identifying and applying for new funding to maintain the longevity of the MTME project. At the time of compiling this annual report, we have successfully secured a further three years funding with the Surrey Police and Crime Commissioner’s Office, where we will act as the first dedicated child criminal exploitation support service in the county.
Working in partnership
One of the core principles of MTME is partnership working. We currently have strong and established working relationships with many key partners and stakeholders involved in youth work provision throughout the county. Our key partnerships are Surrey Police, Targeted Youth Support Surrey, short-stay schools, and Surrey County Council services.
We have a brilliant working relationship with Surrey Police. We have seen a large number of referrals into the service from police and we are now regularly on Risk Management Meetings to promote our services.
We are currently working with many of the short-stay schools in the county running regular workshops, group, and one-to-one sessions with identified young people in an educational setting.
As well as working with many professional partners, we also work closely with Surrey Young People’s Substance Misuse Service (SYPSMS). We have a streamlined referral process to support children and young people accessing the MTME service, who also present with substance misuse issues, as well as children and young people accessing the SYPSMS service who would benefit from criminal justice diversion support.
“When I first met my worker, I gathered that Music to My Ears would give me a relaxed no-pressure environment and, as sessions went on, that turned out to be true. I appreciated it because I don’t deal well with these environments, and I didn’t feel forced to do anything I was uncomfortable with. The sessions and my positive experience has helped me to trust more. After the sessions I don’t go back to bed because I feel energised to go about my day. If someone came to me with problems, and I think MTME can help with them, I would definitely recommend it! I can rely on the Music to My Ears workers: they have always been there.”
– Service user
Future plans
Service development
Music to My Ears has made fantastic progress from its initial day one design:
- we have consistently overachieved our target for the number of children and young that we successfully engaged with,
- we have worked alongside key partners and stakeholders across the county, and
- we have developed a bespoke targeted education product, which became part of our offer to alternative education providers.
MTME will continue to use music and music production to engage with young people, but this offer will increase to even more creative outlets and non-traditional forms of engagement. With the successful role out of the “Answers Through Photography” project that allowed young people to answer key questions about themselves and their lives using pictures, we are increasing our toolkit with gym work, baking, creative writing, contemporary poetry, art and design, and football.
We will increase the skills of the competent team we have to ensure that as many young people that would otherwise not engage with service will find support with MTME
We will further explore the prevention work in short-stay schools and other alternative settings further, and work to expand our knowledge of the most vulnerable cohorts.
MTME is a recognised and respected service provider at local levels, which has secured its longevity and led to an opportunity to be the first CCE project of its kind in Surrey. We will continue to promote and develop our service, ensuring that we are aware of emerging trends within youth culture, enabling the project to remain credible and relevant.
“I didn’t know what a push or pull factor was. I didn’t know what the difference between a healthy and unhealthy relationship was. I didn’t even know I was being exploited. I have taken control of these things now – I now have the confidence to say no. MTME showed me these skills. I’d always had them, but I didn’t know until they showed me.”
– Service user
Summary
The first year of this new and exciting funding has achieved some very impressive outcomes. Building on the previous success of the Music to My Ears project, we have been able to pivot to build a robust and meaningful service that is supporting young people in a real and meaningful way.
We have had some really interesting findings:
- The demographics have shown us areas to focus on for prevention and areas to focus on when it comes to targeted interventions that sit outside our previous thinking.
- The percentage of young people with identified mental health/emotional wellbeing needs that are being targeted by CCE groomers is higher than we had previously known. As a part of the emotional wellbeing interventions and education young people receive, it could be useful to include CCE push/pull factors.
- We have seen a clear dividing line between the number of 10-13 years olds compared to 14-18 year olds. This has shown us that the offer of intense one-to-one interventions are best focused at settings for young people over-14, while we seem to have a real opportunity to work with the under-14s in a preventative capacity.
- We have also seem a trend towards young people with special educational needs or other special needs. This gives us an insight into settings that potentially need more focus and, as suchm we have started a scoping exercise with short-stay schools that will see us present in-person to targeted pupils once a term. This will be a multi agency presentation with partners from substance misuse services and child sexual exploitation experts at WiSE.
The number of enquiries, suitable referrals and support sessions that have been carried out in year one have shown that the need for this service exists and was very well received. Music to My Ears has seen a consistent stream of referrals, and an unexpectedly high number of partner agency requests for information and training.
The message is getting out there: Catch22 are the go-to agency for supporting young people with child criminal exploitation (CCE) concerns, and we look forward to taking these findings and using them to help more young people and build an even more robust service for 2023-24.
“XX, as you know, is very vulnerable, and your support and consistency showed him he has people around him who will support his dreams. Your determined approach to get XX to engage showed that you are committed to your role and genuinely care about the young people you engage with. This was nice to see.”
– Partner feedback
Letter from a parent
Dear Tim,
Hope all is well with you?
I just wanted to give you some feedback on Jamie’s work with my child, who he has been working with over the past seven months.
Jamie has been the most amazing sense of support for both myself and my family, in addition to his work with my child. I will outline why:
- Jamie has given my child valuable drugs education to try and help him navigate his way out of his current county line gangs/child criminal exploitation situation. He has not been preachy but set seeds for growth and thinking outside the box of what my child is being fed by his groomers.
- Jamie has been thoughtful, kind and caring e.g. Jamie bringing a Christmas box of chocolates and blankets, which would have meant a lot to my child at this key confused, vulnerable moment in their life, where they are paranoid and feel overwhelmed.
- Jamie gave advice and unbiased, non-judgemental messages to my child and forged a good bond with them. It has been suggested by professionals that my child has attachment trauma issues due to their ASD tendencies. It is a challenge to get close to my child but Jamie managed and saw beyond how they present. Obviously, I have no idea of what they talked about but, what I do know, is after seeing Jamie, my child was always calm and happier to come home and be with us – his family. This was obviously a good, positive aspect for us too, as well as for my child.
- Jamie worked in conjunction with CPSO to deliver his sessions with my child and was happy to collect them from school, take them out (to open up a dialogue), and also bring them back home, which was obviously a great way to safeguard my child and useful for us and our piece of mind too.
- For us parents, it was good to meet you and know that organisations like Catch22 exist. County line gangs and child criminal exploitation are hellish, and not at all easy to navigate for the young person or the surrounding family and extended family network.
- Jamie has responded to countless emails, texts and WhatsApp messages, that I have left for him as an anxious parent – who is trying to get help for my child e.g. sending me links to resources, so I can also consolidate those key messages for my child at home too, who has ADHD and ASD tendencies and needs the ‘drip feed’ approach to education, in order to process it and not feel alienated.
Tim, I hope you know what an amazing asset Jamie is to your team and value him, as we have learnt to over the past several months.
We have worked well together and kept Jamie abreast of developments in order that Jamie was able to create a targeted plan for his sessions with my child, which has had an impact and will hopefully be put to the test.
So thanks again Catch22 – keep up the good work and all the best to you and yours!