The Palace

'An individual has not started living until he can rise above the narrow confines of his individualistic concerns to the broader concerns of all humanity.'

Martin Luther King Jr.

Welcome to the Palace Project,

Here we're striving to provide opportunities for young people and the community on the Palace Road Estate, Streatham Hill, London SW2. These opportunities many in community wouldn't normally be able to afford and include drama and dance classes, music lessons, IT courses, film-making, sports, radio and media production to name but a few. For others the Palace provides a sociable, family environment. For instance, we're aiming to provide a daytime club for elderly members of the community, where they can reminise by watching old films, seek advice or just have a friendly chat with someone.

We also provide a voice to people who normally wouldn't be heard much further than the end of their street. For instance in response to the tragic deaths in early 2007 of several young people in our area through gun crime, the young people wanted to make a film. They wanted to make a fast direct response to news headlines stating that the borough was a crime capital, with teens out of control, and handguns the street weapon of choice.

A week later Fast Train to Fool City was completed. A professionally produced documentary it features contributions from musicians, artists and over one hundred Lambeth teenagers. It features interviews with real life gun offenders and victims as well as numerous local authorities including a surgeon who has extensive experience in treating gunshot injuries. It has since been taken up by the Lambeth Police and distributed to every school in the Borough. Plans are underway for it to be shown Nationally and everyone agrees it will ultimately save young peoples' lives. Not just in terms of gun crime victims, but also those young people who carry and use guns without putting much thought into the consequences and then have to waste many years of their lives serving long prison terms.

Coming Soon!

Fast Train to Fool City

You can watch this powerful and moving film for free right here.

This is just the beginning. Watch this space!

CHUKA HARRISON INTERVIEW

See Glen Neil's interview with Chuka Harrison giving a picture of his vision for the future of youth projects, young people, anti-gang and gun crime prevention policies and much more.

THE WIRE

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