Prem has announced that his Peace Education Programme will be made available to all Londoners over the age of 14 to help tackle the rise of violent crime across the Capital. The announcement was made during an event on Sunday evening at Lambeth Community College. The programme, first devised to help rehabilitate convicted prisoners, will be rolled out in partnership with London community centres, activists, schools and youth clubs.
Prem’s Peace Education Programme is currently in use in UK prisons, including HM Prison Leeds, Doncaster and Thameside, helping prisoners discover inner resources and access to personal peace, and to reduce the chances of reoffending. The programme has also run successfully in post-conflict zones such as Colombia, Soweto in South Africa, and East Timor.
Prem Rawat’s announcement comes as London experiences a surge in violent crime. In 2018 alone, 37 people have died from stabbings to date, with a total of 62 murders reported. In the previous year, Metropolitan Police records revealed 37,443 recorded knife offences and 6,694 recorded gun offences across the UK up to September 2017.
The announcement was made at an event hosted by Pastor Lorraine Jones, whose son Dwayne Simpson was stabbed to death in 2014. The evening was organised by Dwaynamics (a fitness and boxing club founded by Pastor Lorraine Jones in Angell Town, Lambeth) and Celebrate Life Events, in collaboration with Lambeth Police Community Partnerships.
Guests, including the Jamaican High Commissioner, His Excellency Seth George Ramocan, the Mayor of Lambeth, Councillor Christopher Wellbelove and Superintendent Sean Oxley, were treated to a range of entertainment from local young talent through music, dance and the spoken word. The evening was part of Prem Rawat’s #peaceispossible campaign and followed famous graffiti artist, Eine, painting Prem Rawat’s timeless message across the walls of Shoreditch House on Ebor Street, Shoreditch last weekend.
