The dark alleys of South West London and the sunlit highest mountain tops in the may see a million miles apart, but they will form a special bond this summer when a team of volunteers from local youthwork charity Oxygen climb the three highest peaks in the order to raise money for Oxygen’s Urban Nites youthwork project. 

Urban Nights is an important work in the life of the Kingston Borough, through it Oxygen coordinated volunteers go out onto the streets each night of the week meeting, talking to and working with young people all walks of life who are just hanging around often looking intimidating. Over the course of a regular week they meet over 100 different young people as they work in New Malden, Kingston, Kingsnympton and Surbiton’s Alpha Estate. Many of these young people are undergoing a range of challenging issues, some that people may expect such as excessive drinking, anti social behaviour, others more surprising such as being bullied, self harm and loneliness.

No matter what the background or the weather, Oxygen workers remain committed to going out onto the streets to meet, encourage and challenge these young people. Now several years on the impact of Urban Nights is being felt as the young people who have been involved for a few years change lifestyles, as well as give time volunteering, travelling to new areas and working with Oxygen to start even more Urban Nites projects. 

So why not encourage Oxygen and the three peaks team by sponsoring them and helping with the ongoing development of Oxygen’s Urban Nights. Then next time you walk down the street and see a group of young people hanging around looking intimidating you could think that you have done something to help them change their lives for the better.