Overview
YourStance are working to prevent deaths and life-changing injuries in young people who are at risk of being a victim of violence, by teaching them lifesaving “zero-responder” skills. Through a large team of volunteer medical professionals, they educate young people to enable them to respond with first aid before medical help arrives, with a focus on CPR and controlling bleeding. It is also delivered in the knowledge that being aware of the real-life consequences can empower young people to make informed decisions and prevent the injury happening at all.
YourStance is a preventative educational project which empowers young people to make informed decisions when faced with an emergency by teaching lifesaving skills. It is unique because is it has been created by health professionals on the frontline who bear witness to the life limiting, life changing or life ending outcomes that are preventable if rapid first aid is instigated in the community.
They are working to eradicate needless deaths by having open conversations, sharing knowledge and skills with young people at risk of serious youth violence, empowering some of the most vulnerable and marginalised young people and their communities with the skills to save a life.
The YourStance workshop is named ‘zero-responders’ and aims to help those in the community that tend to the injured before first responders or emergency services arrive, equipping vulnerable youths aged 11 – 25 with the knowledge to perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and haemorrhage control.
The office for National Statistics reports the number of murder victims under the age of 25 rose by 24% in the year to March 2022, and was 22% higher in than it was a decade ago.
The main objectives of the project are:
- Teach more young people lifesaving skills and empower them to become zero responders.
- Reduce morbidity and mortality caused by serious youth violence in communities.
- Challenging stigma and prejudices among medical professionals
- Tackle class and racial inequalities by ensuring that they are reaching and positively impacting the individuals most harmed by such inequalities.
Over the last four years they have taught more than 2000 young people lifesaving skills, delivering 178 workshops across London. They aspire to move into other cities affected by violence and have recently worked with partners to deliver courses in Sheffield.
Data collected following YourStance workshops suggest they are having a positive impact on young lives. 87% said they learned something which would have been useful to them in the past and 90% felt better prepared to respond to emergencies.
“I wish that I had known these skills before. Perhaps my brother would have survived his injury.”
Young person
Courses are delivered by a team of 310 registered volunteers, including 14 lead volunteers. The directors of the organisation, and many of the volunteers do this whilst also working in full-time roles in the NHS and healthcare professions.
“It’s fundamentally different to what we do in a day-to-day situation. Ultimately doing something like YourStance will make people better practitioners – this is a unique experience.”
YourStance Medical Volunteer
To grow their impact, they have recently employed a part time project co-ordinator and a part time virtual admin assistant. They help coordinate the volunteering to ensure that the volunteer experience is a good one and that training, compliance, DBS checks and other governance is managed coherently.
The £2,000 Grants for Good funding will help YourStance to continue to grow their impact, helping volunteers reach more communities that will benefit from courses, and ultimately, save more lives.
At the heart of our mission lies the profound desire to bridge the digital divide, empowering young individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds. Often, these youth remain in the peripheries, having limited or no access to the technological tools that many of us take for granted. With your support, we aim to change that narrative.
Every camera and tablet we buy, every software we subscribe to, and every laptop we distribute serves as a testament to our shared vision: a world where every young individual, irrespective of their socio-economic background, can access and thrive in the digital realm.
Adam Storch
