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Young men recovering from mental illness often lack the support networks they need.

Too much wisdom is wasted. People with knowledge and experience are disconnected from those who need it.

Young offenders lack self-confidence and self-discipline and there is a shortage of really high-quality programmes to give them opportunities to develop and express themselves.

In 2005, a third of Kirklees Neighbourhood Housing’s contracts with young tenants ended in abandonment, eviction or prison. This is a common problem across the country.

There are over 18,000 16-25 year olds in custody in the UK - an increase of more than a third in the past ten years. Two-thirds of these say that a mentor would help them to stop re-offending, particularly if the mentor were someone who themselves had broken the cycle of offending. However, while mentoring provision does exist, it is often duplicated and sporadic, and does not work to any minimum standards.

Over a million children and young people in the UK have been bullied in the last year. Increasingly, the problem of bullying does not just exist within schools. In 2006, a BeatBullying survey found 47% of young people have suffered some form of text, video, email or online bullying.

Many vulnerable people are unable to access private rented accommodation because they claim benefits or cannot provide a deposit. But with a shortage of council housing, people can wait years to get a council tenancy, preventing them from living independent lives.