Black role models to be recruited

Apprentice winner Tim Campbell will help to choose role models

Successful role models for young black men are to be recruited to counteract the influence of gang culture, the communities secretary has announced.

Hazel Blears said four prominent figures, including entrepreneur Tim Campbell, will hunt for 20 men, such as doctors, lawyers and businessmen.

She said the Black Boys' National Role Models programme would be an "antidote to a culture of low aspiration".

It follows a report warning that black boys are too influenced by rap stars.

In August, the Reach advisory panel suggested that role models for black boys and young men were often rappers - some of whom glamorise crime - and sports stars.

Young black men want and need to see role models from everyday life who have been successful Hazel Blears Communities secretary

The report, by experts from fields including education and business, said this narrow focus meant there was a culture of low aspiration, which contributed to poor educational attainment.

Ms Blears said the new initiative was an attempt to provide a wider diversity of images of successful black men.

The Reach panel calculated that a cycle of underachievement could cost the UK £24bn over the next 50 years through taxes and criminal justice costs.

Department of Education statistics, leaked to the press last December, suggested that black pupils in England are three times more likely to be excluded from school than other students.

Boost attainment

And latest GCSE results show black pupils in the UK continue to lag behind their counterparts.

Ms Blears said: "Black pupils made the biggest improvement in this year's GCSE results and the attainment gap is closing.

"We must continue to boost the attainment of our young black men if we are going to see improvements in other areas too.

"A concerted focus on what is happening for black pupils both in schools and outside is a vital part of getting this right."

Fashion designer Ozwald Boateng, Metropolitan Police chief superintendent Leroy Logan and Simon Woolley, founder of Operation Black Vote, will line up alongside Mr Campbell - who won the first series of TV show The Apprentice - to identify 20 successful men.

Young black men need to see success stories, Hazel Blears said

The panel members will be assisted by two "young advisers".

They will help to ensure that the role models that are selected "have real appeal and will truly resonate with black boys and young black men," says the Communities and Local Government department.

The 20 men selected as national role models will speak to schools and youth clubs about their experiences and take on mentoring roles in their communities.

They will also use podcasts to reach a wider audience.

Regarding the initiative, Ms Blears said: "Young black men want and need to see role models from everyday life who have been successful in business, in retail, as doctors and accountants - and to be reassured that these paths are open to them too.

"It is these men who will provide the most powerful antidote to a culture of low aspiration that is seeing too many of our young black men fail."