Context is everything. We built Inside Success against a backdrop of systematic dismantling. What’s more? We witnessed the closure of youth services across Lambeth, Barking and Dagenham, Hammersmith and Fulham, Newham, Westminster, and Redbridge. We saw centres close their doors. They made thousands of dedicated staff redundant, leaving communities with a void where support and guidance used to be.
I worked in places like Stratford Circus, The Meeting Place, and the Tooting Hub. I saw the work in care homes and youth provisions across these boroughs. They pulled apart infrastructure built over generations. I saw experienced workers displaced, budgets slashed, and the safety net removed.
Out of that vacuum, we created a solution. We launched a magazine and created opportunities. We provided structure where the state had walked away.
But the reception we received raises a difficult, unavoidable question. If the leadership was from a different background, and the beneficiaries were from a different community, would the narrative have been different?
Consider the comparison
Look at organisations like The Big Issue. We see their founder celebrated. There are images of Prince William and King Charles holding the magazine, endorsing the work, and framing it as a noble endeavour, a lifeline for those in need.
They respect it, legitimize it, and view it as essential.
And then we look at ourselves.
We operated in the same spaces, helped the vulnerable and built confidence among the youths. We created friendships and kept people engaged and off the streets. The social value was, and remains, immense. Inside Success changed lives and gave direction to young people who needed them. We built futures from the ground up.
Yet the headlines told a different story.
We were labelled as a nuisance. We were ridiculed and constantly face legal action. The Westminster Council, for instance, has dragged us to court. We were targeted by the press. Headlines in the Daily Mail, the Mail on Sunday, The Guardian, and features on ITV News focused not on the gap we were filling, but on how to stop us.
We received letters telling us to “get these coons off our streets,” to remove ourselves from train stations, to disappear.
We were treated not as a solution, but as a problem to be managed, or worse, gotten rid of.
When the System Steps Back, Who Steps Up?
The facts are clear. Local authorities slashed budgets. Services that had existed for decades were erased. Inside Success was born from that displacement. We did not create the issue; we attempted to address it.
We built serious, long-standing partnerships with official bodies and major industry, even collaborating with Newham Council to run business forums. This company has worked alongside Jobcentre Plus and delivered Kickstarter programmes. We contributed to think tanks and policy discussions.
Inside Success partnered with global industry leaders RS Components to run Reflect, a major tech-based event that ran successfully for three years. This company worked with the Ministry of Defence on their Sharp Shooters programme for three years, taking young people out, engaging them, and building discipline and vision. We also partnered with the IET (The Institution of Engineering and Technology).
We delivered real outcomes, engaged thousands of young people and produced high-quality magazines with professional front covers.
The Invisible Divide
Why is one community effort celebrated and another criminalised? Why is one publication viewed as essential reading and another dismissed, distrusted, or banned?
Is it possible that deep-rooted biases create a filter through which success is measured? When entrepreneurs from ethnic minority backgrounds try to empower their own communities, is there automatic suspicion? A lack of trust?
We saw the need and the people, then delivered the results. The impact was tangible.
Yet, mainstream media rarely discussed the collaborations, the data, or the positive outcomes. Instead, the narrative remained fixed on suspicion, control, and elimination.
The Question Remains
The work speaks for itself. The partnerships speak for themselves. But the question remains, and it is one that deserves an answer:
Would Inside Success have been treated differently if we represented a different demographic? Based on the evidence, based on the comparison, based on the treatment we received…the thought is impossible to ignore.
We built something real, worked with respected institutions, and saved lives. And still, they tried to shut us down. The double standard exists. You decide why.
