Darul Ummah is a leading proactive centre in fighting crime and achieving community safety in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. A number of highly successful and reputable crime reduction and community safety projects operate from within the centre.

 

The Crime Film Challenge project a unique interventionist pilot project carefully designed with the aim of creating awareness, engaging and educating young people affiliated with gang activities about the negative impact of films glorifying gang culture on our society, and to help prevent them from viewing such stories and actors as suitable for emulating in real life.

 

The project was funded by the Safer London Foundation, support by the MPS and has been highly successful. The SLF normally funds projects for a year, but due to the success of this particular project, it decided to fund it for a further two years, with fresh applications needed each year to secure funds.

 

The Project set out to achieve its objectives by screening a series of modern, appropriate films, all thematically related to the subjects of crime, gangs, drugs and violence. The Project engages participants in a structured, facilitator-led debate after each film showing; to explore the issues arising from the films, to discuss the relevance of the films content to day-to-day life and extrapolate the moral and consequential lessons and conclusions of the film’s story lines and plots.

 

The Project’s outcome target is to promote considered awareness and better understanding of the dangers of gun crime, drugs and drug-related crime, gang culture and gang-related crime, and to promote better understanding of the work of the Police in combating crime and supporting local communities.

 

The project is now in its third year with match funding in place for 2010 directly from the Home Office in recognition of its success in reducing gang culture among young people and the innovative methods used to achieve targets.

 

Brief Project Details & Timeline:

Shaddywood 4 - Gun, Gang and Knife Crime Reduction (Phase 4) 2010

SLF commissioned this project with the aim to empower and capacity build 20 hard-to-reach youths so that in the future they could replicate the Shaddywood Project.

Shaddywood 3 Replication - Building on Success (Phase 3) 2009

SLF commissioned this project with the aim to empower and capacity build 20 hard-to-reach youths so that in the future they could replicate the Shaddywood Project.

Shaddywood 2 Extraction -The Sequel (Phase 2) 2008

SLF commissioned this project to use a focused intervention method of educational workshops to engage and empower over 35 current and ex-gang members.  The project was successful in directly extracting and rehabilitating the participants from their gangster lifestyles and cultures.

Shaddywood Crime Film Challenge (Phase 1) 2007

SLF (Safer London Foundation) commissioned this project which consisted, a series of interactive workshops aimed to create awareness, engaging and educating young people about the negative impacts of films glorifying gangs, drugs and violence.  Over 250 hard-to-reach young people were engaged.

MPS Pathfinder Community Engagement Programme 2007

Metropolitan Police Service and the University of Central Lancashire commissioned the project. Da'watul Islam identified key community priorities through extensive and controlled research on issues and solutions to preventing and tackling gang crime.

"Darul Ummah Says No To Gun Crime" 2004

Funded by the Home Office the project was highly successful and over 60 young people directly benefited from the project.

Project Coordinator

Nurul Ullah is a leading and proactive crime reduction officer in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets and sits in several crime reduction and community safety committees including the Tower Hamlets Police & Community Safety Board and the Tower Hamlets Violent Crime Board.

For more information about this project please click here