Title: Interview: Patrick Regan

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SB: What else are you currently involved in or hope to be involved in?
PR: At the moment we are working on a project called ‘Pride and Respect’ the name has come from a quote from a young person who said ‘I joined a gang for pride and respect and what I found was fear and violence’. Pride and Respect is XLP’s response to some of the complex issues around gangs and gun and knife crime. It is about getting alongside young people in a number of ways. Firstly through an approach called C.O.A.C.H where we’ll be working with an organisation called the catalyst trust. C.O.A.C.H aims to match up a young person and family with a mentor for a minimum of 12 months to give life coaching and creating a life plan. We also have a project called Gunz Down which is an hour long multimedia performance that looks at choices and anger management. A new project we are working on is ‘youth urban talk show’, which gives young people an opportunity to explore the social and justice issues affecting them, told in their own words and from their perspective. An added dimension is that the young people will relate their message using the performing arts (bands, dancers, singers, emcees, actors).  The evening will begin with the young people “speaking out” followed by an interactive question and answer section involving the audience comprised of councillors, MPs, policy makers, constabulary, and others. Finally it involves detached gang work that will take place on the XLP converted bus where relationships have already been built with many young people who are on the verge of joining gangs.

SB: What advice you would give to young people?
PR: My advice would be that regret is worse than failure. Christian young people need to engage in their communities and make themselves vulnerable so that God can use them. Live lives that are authentic and Christ-like so that people like hanging out with you.

You can find out more about Patrick Regan’s work or see a sample of his book on www.survivor.co.uk or www.xlp.org.uk.  If you’re 18 or over, you can even get involved with XLP through taking part in their eXperience year-out programme please contact This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .  If you would like to volunteer for XLP please contact This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it