Street violence is threatening the safety of our young people. This is why we’ve developed our free Young Responders programme. Young Responders inspires and empowers young people from underserved communities by teaching them relevant, life-saving first aid skills.

What young people can learn as a Young Responder

We run the programme through interactive sessions based on real-life, first aid situations that are relevant to many young people's lives today. At our sessions, young people will learn practical skills. What they learn improves their confidence and knowledge when dealing with emergency situations. We also have open discussions to reflect how these incidents impact mental wellbeing.

Our sessions cover:

• responding to a catastrophic bleed
• dealing with an alcohol or vape spiking incident
• performing a primary survey and CPR
• how first aid situations affect mental health and wellbeing, and how to get support

Who the sessions are for

Young Responders is for young people aged 11 to 25 from underserved communities. We aim to adapt our sessions to meet the needs and abilities of attendees. Please let us know if you have any specific requirements during the booking process.

Session length

Sessions can be 60, 90, or 120 minutes long.

How many can attend the session

We designed our sessions to work with a range of group sizes up to a maximum of 30 young people.

Sometimes bookings need more than 30 individuals to take part. When that happens, we book multiple sessions to accommodate everyone.

Where sessions take place

We recommend that sessions take place somewhere that has plenty of space. We will discuss options with you during the booking process, but it will depend on the size of the group.

For a school or an educational setting, we usually recommend using a classroom or hall space. For a local organisation or community group, organisers should provide a suitable venue with plenty of space.

St John Ambulance provides all the equipment for the sessions. We do ask that you provide a suitable space with chairs, a table if there is one, and a whiteboard or screen.

How to get involved

We deliver Young Responders in partnership with schools, educational authorities, and community organisations that support young people.

We work in the following areas:

• North East
• West Midlands
• London
• Hull
• East Riding

If you’re unsure if your group meets our criteria, please get in touch to discuss your suitability. Email us at young.responders@sja.org.uk.