Dancers victims of gun crime (From Ealing Times)

Dancers victims of gun crime

3:47pm Wednesday 14th March 2007

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HOODY-wearing teenagers Ashton, Chris and Wesley are sitting opposite me - but funnily enough I'm not scared they are going to stab me, shoot me or rob me of my wallet.

What I do know so far is they are all passionate about dancing - but a recent disco called Xcluse, organised to give young people something to do, has been cancelled because of fears following the spate of gun violence in South London.

And the Hayes boys think the bad press today's youth get is stopping them from having the chance to find something to do and express themselves.

"We get so many mixed signals," said Wesley, 16. "If we're walking towards a group of older people they'll often cross the road to avoid us.

"We were really looking forward to the event. We were in the chippy and we were just like: Tomorrow is ages and ages away'."

And Chris, 16, added: "I thought there was no way it could be cancelled. I just sat there and laughed.

"We had 800 kids coming along. That's 800 kids who've now got nothing to do that night and could be going back on the streets."

Wesley, who now teaches dancing since leaving school, and Barnhill Community school pupils Chris and Ashton, say getting involved in events like Xcluse will give the local youth something to do and will help cut down anti-social behaviour.

Ashton, 15, said: "Dancing gives people a way of letting out their feelings - when you dance you get lots of stress out.

"It helps build up your confidence and you get to make lots of friends."

The boys had been helping Ashton's mother, Merisa Crane, 33, organise the event to be held at Boulevard night club in Ealing Broadway on February 20.

Merisa has set up u8teen, an organisation that aims to bring the youth of the community together through dance, music, sport and creative activities and is in the process of registering a charity called Healing Children's Hearts.

The disco, which would have been hosted by BBC Extra's DJ Cameo, attracted interest from all around West London and beyond.

Account manager Merisa said: "Then the day before it was going to happen it got cancelled because of issues to do with gun crime.

"The police were going to supply us with six officers who would be there to make sure nothing went wrong.

"I just don't know why we are scared of our children. It has really knocked my confidence."

In a statement following the event Boulevard's manager Karl Lever said: "There are a number of pertinent issues that relate to the decision, most notably the horrific gun crime over the last weekend and recent weeks.

"We can only apologise for the tremendous amount of hard work and dedication that the team put in that has not come to fruition."

Merisa has also been in contact with the manager of Tenpin Ltd, Billy Keiran, to arrange an Xcluse event at the bowling alley in the Royal Leisure Park off Western Avenue in the summer.

For more information on the organisation and its events go to www.u8teen.com or www.healingchildrenshearts.com.

There is a competition being run on the u8teen website which would have been run at the event at Boulevard to win a signed England football shirt or £100 worth of jewellery.

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