THE YOUNG PEOPLE LEADING CHANGE

Aik Saath began in response to gang violence between young people from Asian backgrounds in Slough. The charity has been educating young people to challenge prejudice and has recently won an award for their contribution to the community. We spoke to Leader Rob Deeks...

- Rob Deeks

“How does it feel to have been recognised for making an outstanding contribution to your community?” I ask.

Rob Deeks of Aik Saath has recently been given a Highly Commended National Crimebeat Award by Lucy Zeal, the High Sheriff of the Royal County of Berkshire at the time. This award recognises the most innovative and successful crime prevention projects carried out by young people who are creating safer communities. It is given for exceptional and inspirational work and for those who have made a positive impact on the lives of other people.

“Slough can sometimes feel like a forgotten corner of Berkshire so Mrs Zeal’s interest in our area and the issues impacting on everyday people’s lives was wonderful,” says Rob, who lives in the Britwell area with his wife, Tejinder, and two children, Talvin, six, and Daiyah, three.

Aik Saath means Together As One in Hindi, Punjabi and Udru. “We have this unusual name due to the origins of the charity – we began in response to gang violence between young people from Asian backgrounds in Slough during the late 1990s,” says Rob. “Efforts to quell the violence back then had some success, but to make a lasting peace, it was argued that young people needed to be given the skills to prevent violence and challenge prejudice themselves.

“Since then the project has evolved in so many ways but our ethos of listening to young people and supporting them to ‘be the change’ in our communities continues to this day.”

In addition to the training programmes they delivered, Aik Saath now run youth activities as part of a wider consortium of voluntary groups in Slough called Youth Engagement Slough (YES).