Top social justice award for Cracked It smartphone project

Cracked It, a social enterprise staffed by young ex-offenders, and whose founder is a judge of the Observer New Radicals initiative, has been named social enterprise of the year.

The project, a smartphone-repair service which employs young ex-offenders and tries to turn young people away from gangs, was recognised at the Centre for Social Justice Awards last week. Cracked It was tipped as a rising star of 2017 by the Observer last year.

The social enterprise began as a small initiative in an east London youth centre, where founder Josh Babarinde piloted a phone-repair programme. The project aimed to provide young people with new skills, boost their confidence, and provide them with a way to make money, other than through joining gangs.

Support from the Year Here social enterprise incubator allowed it to expand across the capital. The flagship programme is a five-day course for at-risk young people to learn how to repair different phone models.

The project has since been named “London’s best iPhone fixers” by the London Evening Standard.

Babarinde is among the judges selecting this year’s Observer New Radicals, which showcases 50 radicals who are changing their communities for the better across the UK.