Why we’re here

North Kensington contains areas of very high social deprivation and unemployment: not just in comparison to the prosperous parts of the Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea, or other boroughs of Greater London, but compared with anywhere in the UK.

The consequences are inevitable: much higher than average levels of burglaries, street crimes and violent attacks, as well as drug and alcohol misuse. It is all too easy for young people, without hope for the future and without strong role models, to adopt a negative lifestyle.

The Rugby Portobello Trust works with the young people of our area (between the ages of 8 and 25) to provide a positive alternative to a life of crime, deprivation and social exclusion.

Key to our work is to treat young people as individuals, not just numbers from a socio-demographic category. Our aim is to raise their self-esteem and develop independence. The mission is inclusion and thereby contribution to our community of W11 and indeed beyond it.

We do this by providing a wide range of activities and learning programmes. These include life skills (such as how to find a job or to train for one), social development (drugs programmes, pregnancy advice, etc), sporting activities and outdoor pursuits. We also run a great number of educational courses in such diverse subjects as computing, cookery and music production.We even have our own school for students who need an alternative to mainstream schooling.

We house 42 young people - a recognition of the chronic property shortage for homeless young people in our neighbourhood and the lack of affordable housing - and provide support to a further 36 in their own accommodation. But we also help them to live independently and learn how to maintain their home in the long term. In total, through our additional Housing Support Services, we support almost 80 young people with housing problems.

All-in-all, we are working with about 750 people from our area - your area - every week.

We hope you will support us and take a look at What We Do and How You Can Help .