'Offer tax breaks to firms that support teenagers'

Dr Nike Folayan, who chairs the Association Of Black Engineers, said mentoring could "really make a difference".

Hundreds of London professionals voluntarily mentor young people in their spare time and several City banks and law firms run social action programmes.

The Mayor has said developing onetoone relationships between positive role models and young people to "raise their aspirations" will be a key strategy in tackling youth crime in the capital. Last week, he announced a £700,000 funding package for four communitybased projects.

Dr Folayan, who is a youth mentor herself, said the private sector could do more to help young people - if given more support by the Government.

"Mentoring can really make a difference but a lot of young professionals simply do not get the time," she said.

"Some kind of tax break or financial incentive would certainly make companies make it a priority.

"In my profession, the best jobs often go to the best pupils from the best schools but it is up to us who have made it to show young people that they can aspire. My mentoring work is

always done in my own time and I give up my Saturdays, yet many professionals do not want to give up their spare time and work long hours during the week.

"Too many companies say they support these schemes but do not do enough to encourage their staff to give back."

Dr Folayan was supported by Charles Emeka, a former drug dealer who turned his life around after spending two years in jail.

He is now a motivational speaker who runs his own mentoring programme, Become, which helps 12- to 24-year-olds.

Mr Emeka said: "A lot of young professionals struggle to balance their careers with the community work and this is where the Government should step in. It takes money to make things happen in the private sector." He added:

"Young people desperately need role models. I would say 95 per cent of the ones I speak to admire footballers or actors and rappers in America. They listen to the music about shooting and bling and aspire to that. "I met a 14-year-old boy recently and he said to me, 'I make £900 a week selling drugs - show me one job where I could earn that much.'

"I had to explain to him that spending 15 years in jail would not be worth what he was earning nowbut the fact is he didn't see anyone around him who inspired him.

"Mentors and role models switch a light on for young people."

'Mentoring is a responsibility'

Deji Davies, 28, is a sales trader for a leading investment bank in the City. In his spare time, he mentors Mohamed Abdirachild, a 15-year-old pupil at South Camden Community School.

Mr Davies, from Dalston, grew up on a council estate in Camden and studied economics and management at Oxford.

He helped set up a mentoring scheme at the school, which has a high illiteracy rate and many pupils do not speak English as a first language.

He said: "It was not easy at first. One kid was expelled because he was caught carrying a knife. You have to be thick-skinned and have a joke with the kids - you need to know where they are coming from and it helped that I grew up nearby.

"Just showing an interest in them and trying to be a role model by being there was important. Their first question was 'Why are you guys here?' I said, 'Because we have a genuine interest, because I want to be here and I hope to get something out of it.'

"I see mentoring as a responsibility, not a burden. The City can seem a bit materialistic and shallow and this offers an antidote to that."