Frontline London
Escaping the gangs: Our unique campaign to help young Londoners leave a life of crime
Our Frontline London campaign is a groundbreaking initiative to tackle London's gangs.
An Evening Standard investigation revealed that a quarter of violent crime in the capital is committed by gang members. It is obvious that far more needs to be done by David Cameron's Government, by Mayor Boris Johnson and by ourselves as citizens. We have decided to do something no British newspaper has attempted: back young people trying to put their gang life behind them and help them set up and grow social enterprises
The Dispossessed Fund
The Evening Standard's Dispossessed Fund helps Londoners out of poverty with life-changing support and advice.
London is a shameful tale of two cities. In the richest capital in Europe almost half our children live below the poverty line.
These children and their families - the Dispossessed - are cut off from the life most Londoners take for granted. As London's paper, the Evening Standard believes it is important to champion their cause.
The Evening Standard Fund for The Dispossessed has been set up to fight poverty - and we want you to help to fight the causes behind The Dispossessed.
Since the launch of the Dispossessed Fund in July 2010, grants of £4.57 million have been given out to 649 groups, improving the lives of an estimated 100,000 Londoners. The scale of the giving is unprecedented and unmatched by any other newspaper.
Ladder for London
The Evening Standard's Ladder for London campaign helps unemployed young adults into work through paid apprenticeships.
We are appealing to companies large, medium and small to take on an apprentice and help get young London working.
Launched in September 2012 and with Prince Andrew as our patron, we have already secured pledges for 650 apprenticeships and placed more than 100 people in companies.
In March 2013, we expanded our team of apprentice providers from one to six to offer a pan-London reach and vastly increasing the range of apprenticeships on offer. We are targeting more than 1,000 apprenticeships this year.
Apprenticeships are offered in every area, including business & administration, customer service, IT, hospitality and catering, sports coaching and fitness, engineering and construction.
Get London Reading
In June 2011, the Evening Standard launched an unprecedented campaign to Get London Reading.
We are appealing for volunteers to go into schools and support children who are struggling to read. We are also appealing for the money to pay for those volunteers.
One in three children in London does not own a book and one million working adults cannot read. This is a betrayal of our children - and of this great city.
To tackle the blight of illiteracy, we have joined forces with a unique charity, Beanstalk, which is already transforming the lives of hundreds of children.
The charity does extraordinary work, training ordinary adults to mentor school pupils who struggle to read or write. More than nine out of 10 of the children they help make vast improvements. But they need new volunteers and the money to pay for them.