A group aimed at rallying 1,000 mentors for Bermuda’s young men has formed in the wake of the island’s latest shooting death.

Shocked by the killing of his old schoolmate and “friendly cricket rival” Fiqre Crockwell, David Lovell started Man on a Mission a week ago,

Mr Crockwell was shot dead in the early hours of June 20, while another man was injured nearby in a stabbing.

The mission is to link each man with a younger man in need of help, particularly in finding a place for themselves in the island’s workforce.

“My mission is to get men together to help and assist with the violence that is affecting our young men,” said Mr Lovell, an IT businessman with a history of mentoring young Bermudians.

“We have a host of issues affecting our young men and causing them to go astray.”

The response from the community has been promising, Mr Lovell said, as he prepared a gathering of new members last night.

“I have had a lot of people in the community interested, from business people right down to the man on the street. The numbers are growing quite rapidly.”

Facebook has proven effective: Man on a Mission had 199 members as of last night, and Bermudians who have emigrated to Britain have been messaging home through the online group.

“We’ve been hearing from people saying ‘We were part of the problem years ago; now we’re up in age and we want to assist’,” Mr Lovell said.

“I also got a message from a mother whose son is trying to get his GED, so I’m looking inside the group to see who is available to tutor. He’s interested as well in becoming a chef.”

The hope is to pair members of the group with young men, especially when it comes to passing on a technical trade.

“A lot of guys don’t see themselves just sitting in a cubicle,” he said, pointing to the shortcomings of the educational system and a lack of job opportunities.

“The key is to find ways to help educate and mentor our young men. A lot of people talk about the days of the Technical Institute and how we could bring it back. But we don’t necessarily need a school.”

Last night’s meeting at Muse in Hamilton included representatives from Family Centre, and Mr Lovell said he planned to have weekly meetings, with the next on Thursday at 6.30pm to include Gina Spence, whose charitable work assists children left fatherless by violence.

As well as rallying men to help directly, Mr Lovell hopes for the benchmarked 1,000 mentors to help with other organisations such as Family Centre and the Mirrors Programme.

“Instead of trying to reinvent the wheel, we can send men who want to help to get involved with mentoring at other agencies,” he said.