A south Bermondsey ‘Robin Hood’ who avoided the temptations of a life of crime growing up has set out to help young people facing similar problems today – but wants to do things differently.
Tinyan Okungbowa runs workshops through his charity Chasing Prospects in places like the Rennie Estate and Manor Estate, as well as in Southwark Park, to help youngsters raise their aspirations and find careers.
Tinyan grew up on Ilderton Road and went to Geoffrey Chaucer technology college, which has since become Ark Globe Academy. He said he wanted to be a “bad kid” growing up, but his love of learning saved him.
“I wouldn’t necessarily say it was a bad school, but for everyone from that school – our aspirations were really low. And I think to be fair the teachers did try to get us to think bigger than where you are.
“I played both sides and I was lucky to come out the right side. I was just probably one of the lucky ones.”
Tinyan went to university to become a journalist. He said: “I thought ‘when I become a journalist I’m going to write about all the bad things that happen in the hood’.”
Tinyan didn’t manage to break into journalism, instead becoming a youth worker with Lambeth Council and Croydon Council, as well as with the Safer London youth support group based in Southwark, where he worked with young kids.
“With the younger people you could get through quickly,” he said. “They were almost in awe. They’ve got an image of someone who’s coming into help you looks like. The archetypal, primarily middle class, white kind of thing.
“The kids were like ‘I thought you’d be one of those people who just chats sh*t’,” he laughed. “It was never really about being relatable, it’s more about the information I can give – but obviously it helps being relatable.”
Tinyan then set up his own social enterprise, Chasing Prospects, not long before the Covid-19 pandemic hit. He runs the organisation on his own, with volunteers helping to run workshops.
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He admitted that there is a “plethora” of similar organisations in Southwark and London more widely but said that groups are often not connected to the communities they are trying to help, and are stuck doing a “firefighting” operation rather than preventing kids getting seriously entrenched in a life of crime.
“If you haven’t been in trouble, or you’re not on the verge of committing a crime, you might not get these opportunities shared with you. They’re often given to this really at-risk cohort, but we want to catch people earlier than that.
“Those opportunities aren’t necessarily shared with people who aren’t in trouble, who are still in education, who aren’t going out committing any sort of crime or doing county lines – those kids in the middle who might go either way.
“I see myself as that Robin Hood, using that privilege I’ve got because I’ve got connections with Lambeth Council and Croydon Council, I’m on those mailing lists [where opportunities are shared].
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“I can bring that information back to grassroots areas, use it for people who thought ‘Oh, I thought that was just for people on probation’ or ‘I thought that was just for people who were in prison’.”
Chasing Prospect’s workshop volunteers are often people with high-flying jobs in the City. Asked whether it could be difficult for them to connect with the young people taking part, Tinyan said that the focus on success that they represent was inspiring.
“In youth work there can be a lot of focus on the tough circumstances people overcome. When you look at ‘success stories’ there’s a lot of harping on about how much crime they committed, but not much about what they’ve done well since to get where they are.
“At the end of the day every person wants to be financially independent, that’s a lot of the reason young people go into crime.
“So you get kids asking ‘you’re telling me don’t sell drugs, don’t get into gangs, but how do you get successful?’ So someone coming from the City can talk them through the practical, positive steps they need to follow to get where they want to in life.
“I think that’s more useful rather than the negative thing of ‘I used to be a tough guy, I used to beat people up, so don’t be a tough guy – I’m lucky to be here, etc.’”
As well as his workshops, Tinyan works with local businesses in Bermondsey and across Southwark and London more widely to get young people work experience and internships in various sectors.
The next big careers advice workshop is taking place in Brixton on November 9 from 6pm. Register here for a free place.