Who Are We?

Project 4 Youth Empowerment (P4YE) is a Community Interest Company created by four friends who believed young people deserve more than conversations about them — they deserve to be heard.

Concerned about the number of young people involved in, or on the verge of criminality, unemployed, or not in education or training, our team decided to try to change the narrative by dedicating tailored programmes for young people.

We exist to give young people a voice and a platform. Too many are labelled, overlooked, or written off due to the challenges they face, whether that’s involvement in or risk of criminality, unemployment, or disengagement from education or training. At P4YE, we work alongside young people to change that narrative and help them shape their own futures.

Our programmes are co-designed with young people and built around their real experiences, ideas, and ambitions. We provide tailored support through group and one-to-one mentoring, creative and educational workshops, residentials, youth club, advocacy, and access to wider professional services. Every space we create is safe, supportive, and led by the voices of those who use it.

Prevention, early intervention, and diversion are at the core of our work. Using our training, we support young people in navigating challenges, managing conflict, and making positive choices before situations escalate.

Our team brings lived experience and professional expertise from youth work, education, outreach, and SEN support. Alongside skills in leadership, project management, and media, we use our platform to amplify young people’s stories — not speak over them.

At P4YE, young people aren’t just participants. They are partners, leaders, and changemakers.

Meet the team

Wayne Lindsay

Wayne, CEO and co-founder of P4YE, holds a First-Class Honours degree in Criminology & Psychology.

With his experience supporting young people in detached youth work, education, and criminal justice settings, he is committed to making a lasting impact.

Wayne works on a Department for Education AP Taskforce, contributing his expertise to improving alternative provisions. Passionate about youth support and justice, he plays a key role in shaping P4YE’s strategy, driving its growth and long-term impact.

Alex St John

With more than 20 years of experience in immigration law, Alex brings a wealth of expertise in advising both corporate and private clients on all aspects of UK immigration procedures.

Alongside this professional background, Alex also serves as a Director of Project 4 Youth Empowerment CIC.

In both roles, Alex is committed to delivering exceptional service by offering community-focused solutions that help to navigate complex systems and achieve positive outcomes.

Daniel Drakes-Thomas

After a successful career in corporate sales across financial services, corporate travel, merchant banking, and legal services, I felt a strong calling to give back to the community—particularly by supporting young people.

Now, I leverage my life experiences and transferable skills to empower the next generation, helping them build brighter futures.

The ethos of P4YE profoundly resonates with me, and I embrace this challenge with a commitment to creating positive change for young people.

Stephanie White

Stephanie White has been a youth worker for 16 years. Starting in 2007, she volunteered with Croydon Council’s youth detached team and later worked on various youth programs.

Stephanie holds an NVQL3 diploma in youth work and specializes in gangs and youth violence. She serves on a Department of Education Taskforce and supports P4YE’s mission.

Passionate about empowering young people, Stephanie says: “Life doesn’t have to be what they perceive; it can be what they make of it by valuing themselves.”

Lisa Yearwood

Lisa has a background in performing arts, honing her craft at the BRIT School. Since 2022, she has used her skills at P4YE, mentoring young people in 1:1 and group settings.

Passionate about youth empowerment, Lisa creates safe spaces for expression, confidence-building, and personal growth. Her creative and adaptable approach helps her connect with young people from diverse backgrounds.

As a dedicated advocate, she amplifies their voices and ensures they have opportunities to thrive. Combining her performing arts experience with mentorship, Lisa inspires and guides the next generation toward success.

Taliyah Grant

I am a creative, caring person who’s passionate about making a positive impact on young people.

I love being a youth worker because it gives me the chance to build genuine relationships with young people, and relate to those who face challenges of being young.

I enjoy helping them feel seen, heard, and more positive about themselves and watching their confidence grow is the best part of the job. It’s a role that constantly allows me to learn and all the young people i see most definitely inspire me.

Melissa Jones

Mel is a TA and a Youth Support Worker with P4YE. Her passion for working with young people is rooted in lived experience and a deep understanding of how much it matters to feel seen, supported, and believed in.

Mel is committed to creating spaces where young people feel accepted, empowered, and encouraged to recognise their own strength. Her work is driven by empathy, compassion, and a genuine desire to walk alongside young people to build hope for their future.

What do we do?

P4YE takes a holistic approach to the current issues surrounding disenfranchised young people. We believe it is important to support the parents alongside the young person to improve the wellbeing of the family, and to do that we provide parents and carers with safe spaces where they can speak freely without judgement and get the help they require.

To assist their development, we offer young people support into education, employment, or training and through our Youth Empowerment programme we deliver workshops which teach life skills and focus on setting goals, changing behaviour, and realising potential.

The dedication and passion towards working with young people in the community has brought the individuals from P4YE together. P4YE is dedicated to reducing instances of school exclusions, incidents of serious youth violence and exploitation, which can lead to criminality, by engaging young people in ways that give them a chance to flourish positively and brings them away from the margins of society. Our holistic approach benefits the individual, the family, and the community, by engaging and empowering.

We deliver informal education in schools, and we take direct referrals from the Metropolitan Police, Social Services, Leaving Care Teams and Youth Offending services.

Our Vision

Our vision is to reduce instances of serious youth violence, child sexual exploitation (CSE) and school exclusions. We are committed to supporting young people by providing them with positive opportunities in education, employment, and training. We advocate for young people to give them a voice which will in turn, empower them towards a bright future. Our commitment is to the community as a whole with the focus on families and young people.

Our Mission Statement

From the start, we agreed that even if we save one child’s life and give them opportunities for a bright future, then our work has been worth its weight in gold. Today, we dedicate our time, energy, and resources to providing young people and their families the support that they need but is sometimes lacking. We consider it a privilege to be able to use our skills and experience to be able to support, advocate for and mentor young people as we can speak to them in a language that they understand. We vow to continue to bridge the gap between the professionals and the community.

Why do we do this?

P4YE are fully aware of the concerns facing the borough, with the financial problems facing the Local Authority and the sustained levels of violence affecting young people in and around the London Rd area we stand ready to deliver locally designed intervention programs to address those issues over a minimum of 2 years.

The annual Public Health Report in 2017 revealed that 10,261 people in Croydon live in areas considered to be within the 10% most deprived in the whole country. Trust for London reports that Croydon is worse than average for qualifications for young people at 19, totalling 37.6%. It revealed that the borough is worse than average in the amount of people on benefits @ 13.2%, and the unemployment rate is 5.4%. Although the borough has a good GCSE attainment rate, it is also worse than the national average number of people with no qualifications, with 7.5% of the proportion of working-age adults having no qualifications.

An inspection of the Youth Offending service of Croydon by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of probation in 2019 found that a third of children and young people known to the Youth Offending Service (YOS) are not in post-16 education, employment, or training. This is a much higher percentage than in the general population. They noted that children and young people known to YOS are much more likely than others in the borough not to have education, training, or employment opportunities once they reach 16 even though it is well known that education, training, or employment is critical in supporting desistance.

P4YE has a proven track record of working with young people referred from the police, probation and YOS who are considered difficult to engage and we have consistently demonstrated that we are best placed to carry out this type of work.

Who Are We?

Meet the team

Wayne Lindsay

Alex St John

Daniel Drakes-Thomas

Stephanie White

Lisa Yearwood

Taliyah Grant

Melissa Jones

What do we do?

Our Vision

Our Mission Statement

Why do we do this?

Organisations We Partner With