Youth Led Winners

West Midlands: Fridays Coventry

Fridays is a youth initiative set up to prevent knife crime and gang violence in Coventry and aims to tackle anti social behaviour & provide opportunities to better futures. The group (led by Tyler) blew the room and judges away with not only their initiative, but also the passion and drive in the team that has led to their success today.

In 2019, Tyler Campbell was grief-stricken. People who he knew were dying or going to prison due to knife crime. Street violence and anti-social behaviour were on the rise in his home town of Coventry, and there was a distinct lack of safe spaces for young people after all the youth clubs had been closed.

Tyler decided to start his own youth club; a place with a unique mixture of entertainment and education. Fridays was born. Upstairs there is entertainment including open-mic nights, DJ sets, ping- pong, VR, even a barbers giving free haircuts. Downstairs, local organisations offer careers advice, lessons on CV writing, job interview techniques, and presentation skills. The formula has proved so popular that numbers regularly reach 200. All activities are free and Fridays offers a safe environment, with volunteer security personnel in attendance and strict safeguarding training.

‘Fridays’ was started with a grant from Coventry police’s Active Citizen Fund, used to buy DJ and PA equipment. Andy Maxwell, Young Persons Officer Coventry Police says: “Fridays’ impact on the local area is profound because it engages and inspires a demographic the police struggles to connect with. Our aim is to support young people to choose a path away from gangs and violence – and Fridays is out there in the community doing just that.”

Learn more about Friday’s Coventry

Adult Led Winners

Buckinghamshire: Hospital Navigator Scheme

In April 2021 YMCA in Milton Keynes recruited young volunteers as navigators in a new hospital-based violence intervention scheme at Milton Keynes University Hospital. The project is aimed at supporting young people away from gang activity and serious violence towards a more positive pathway. Through this initiative, they can support young people and navigate them back into the community, building resilience and offering mentoring to prevent further incidents that could lead them back into hospital.

Learn more about the YMCA Hospital Navigator Scheme

You can view a short video of last year’s ceremony here

Category A
1st place

Mid Glamorgan – Gurnos Zebras
A group of 20 young people aged from 14- 17 years from the Forsythia Youth Group and Bishop Hedley Catholic High School were challenged to make a difference to their community. The group identified an area on the edge of a large housing estate notorious for social problems, the area included two care homes and a school. An underpass with poor lighting, adjacent to a busy road, led from the estate to the local hospital the underpass was frequented by drug users and those committing anti- social behaviour. The young people decided to tackle this situation and developed a 3 point plan.
* Secure the closure of the underpass,
* Ensure the installation of a zebra crossing to replace the underpass,
* Secure lighting along the footpath leading to the hospital.

They donned zebra costumes and engaged and consulted with politicians ,others of local influence and the local people using a compelling narrative to support their campaign. They also raised £4,000 towards the cost of the improvements they sort.

They won and as a result crime in the area has been significantly reduced, no longer frequented by drug users and residents record feeling safer in the area. The local Police Superintendent states that their impact has been hugely significant.

Category A
2nd place

Derbyshire – Operation Cornmill

Two Police Cadets were given the chance to give a safety talk to the residents of Cornmill House, Glossop, a residential home for the elderly. This followed a spate of pick pocketing and bag dipping in the area and also a number of attempts by opportunists posing as trades people to gain access to the home to steal from the residents.

The talk was such a success that the Cadets decided to hold an information and awareness day for the residents and other vulnerable members of the community. They organised the day, encouraging local retailers to attend to display appropriate equipment and information, other emergency services to provide guidance and societies such as Deaf and Hearing Support, Alzheimer’s Society and Health Watch Derbyshire to offer support. Over 70 people attended the day all were greeted by the Cadets who assessed their needs and directed them to the appropriate stall.
Such was the success of the day the model is to be rolled out across the Police Division.

Category A
3rd place

North Yorkshire – Ice Warriors Five junior school boys from the Life style group 2016 decided that they wished to tackle the vandalised area outside the library, They wrote letters to the local retailers asking for help with plants and refreshments, spoke to local parish councillors and PCSOs to arrange help for the project and engaged local people to provide gardening and other equipment. Stone work was replaced, litter and weeds were removed by the boys who were determined to show that not all young people were involved in anti-social behaviour. They created a safe, hazard free area to be enjoyed by local people. This project was the boys’ idea; they got the local community involved, sourced the necessary goods and broke down barriers between the elderly and young people. They created community cohesion and continue to maintain the area making it feel safe.

Category B
1st place

Herefordshire – Lean on me‘

‘Lean on Me’ is a safe space in Herefords night time economy, it is situated in the heart of the City Centre and works closely with Street Pastors and emergency services to support the inebriated, injured and vulnerable. It is staffed by 56 highly trained volunteers, 43 are aged 16 to 25 yrs. The project is run by two recent graduates, both having seen vulnerability amongst peers whilst at university, it is open Saturday nights and Bank holidays. They take responsibility for the daily management of the centre, development of the project and raising funds.

The young people carry out medical checks, gather information to contact friends and family to ensure each person gets home safely. In addition to first aid theyprovide emotional support and facilitate a safe waiting area. They are equipped to deal with disclosures, which often happens in this friendly atmosphere, where necessary informing a safe guarding agency.

Since the centre opened the ambulance service and A&E dept have recorded low figures on big nights like New Year.

Category B
Joint 2nd place

Lancashire – Purple4Polio
Lancashire ‘Purple for Polio’ – this is a joint project between Bleasdale Special School and Carnforth Rotary Club. Such are the disabilities of the 4 young people (aged 13-16yrs) they are sadly unable to attend but they have put together a video for the ceremony explaining what they did. Adults from the School and the Rotary will attend to intro the video. In partnership with the Rotary and local people they set out on a social action project to break down barriers associated with diversity. They planted purple crocus bulbs in the area to raise funds to eradicate polio. The impact of the project which involved a lot of hard work for the young people has been described as building relationships between young and old, other young people seeing young people with complex needs make a positive impact on their environment. Overall this has strengthen community cohesion. A project looking outside the box of normal crime prevention.

Category B
Joint 2nd place

Cheshire – Radio Competition
Cheshire Crime Prevention “Radio Competition” – was set up in early 2016 and 750
schools (primary, secondary and special) in Cheshire were offered the chance to participate at no cost. They were invited to create a 60 second radio broadcast highlighting issues around- child sexual health, healthy relationships, sexting and use of social media and psychoactive substances. Schools could pick one of these topics. In November 10 junior and 10 secondary were chosen as the best entries of these 4 from each group went to the semi- finals. These 8 schools were the subject of a public vote and in January 2017 a winner from each group decided.

Category B
Joint 2nd place

Cumbria – Is it OK?

Cumbria ‘Is it OK’ supporting people with learning disabilities to understand and report sexual abuse – Carlisle Mencap. A group of 7 young learning disabled film makers produced an educational film on sexual abuse or exploitation. Recognising that there is a lack of understanding amongst young people with learning disabilities of WHAT is sexual abuse/exploitation or who to speak to.

Special Award

Bedfordshire – Bedfordshire Volunteer Police Cadets
This year the Trustees agreed that a Special Award should be made to Bedfordshire Police for the innovative and high quality crime prevention and community cohesion projects using their Volunteer Cadet Groups to reach out to other Young People. Each year for a number of years Bedfordshire’s High Sheriffs have submitted many winning projects from the force. Other forces also submit cadet projects but not as innovative and in the numbers of Bedfordshire.

Special Award

Suffolk – WASSUP
Women Against Sexual Exploitation and Violence Speak Up ‘WASSUP’
This is a peer support group for young black and minority ethnic (BME) women in Ipswich. Many have experienced sexual exploitation, domestic abuse, trafficking or honour based violence. The young women who formed WASSUP came together through a referral scheme and quickly realised that they had endured similar experiences in their young lives and wanted to help others.
The young women went on to be trained and have developed and delivered many workshops and training packages for schools and professionals. Through the development of interactive tools kits and using innovative way of addressing these topics they have made their communities safer.

Category
A – 1st place

Kent – with project ‘Find a Solution‘
This submission was completed by one of the young people involved in the project. This is a first!

The group of YPs were “sick of drugs and violence happening in our community and we wanted to tell others there is a better way to live”. They specifically mention the detritus that goes with drugs, alcohol and other abuse littering the community and presenting dangers. With support of an action fund and the staff at the Quarter Deck youth club they created a music video to go with a song they wrote which is called ‘Find a Solution’ To date they have shared the project with over 100 other very diverse YPs including those in detention. The area around the youth club is clean, safe and well lit. The alleyway behind the football cages has been cleared and anti- social behaviour has been minimised. Young people who would otherwise engage in the former abuses now attend the youth club. They hope to get more funding to set up a peer- to-peer mentoring scheme to sustain the improved behaviour. The project has won numerous awards and the YP have performed at the V&A and the Turner Galley.

Category
A – 2nd place

Merseyside – with project ‘Don’t be a victim‘

The Knowsley youth club attendees were charged with coming up with a peer education project that would benefit others members of the club. Following surveys and consultation they discovered that the issue most experienced or feared by YP was – having something stolen. Armed with this information they devised a quiz to test YPs’ knowledge of being a victim and also produced a leaflet aimed at YPs ‘ 10 Tips on How to Stay Safe and not be a Victim of  Crime’. In addition they challenged the perception of the word ’Victim’.
They initially gave out 400 cards and, following positive responses from the YPs who said that having the information given by peers was more meaningful, they conducted an evaluation. The cards were found to have had a significant impact and the CEO of the youth club agreed that they would be given out in the induction packs for new members. A further 400 have been distributed in this way with another 200 being distributed to YPs at community events in the Knowsley area.

Category
A – 3rd place

North Yorkshire – with project ‘Youth Assemble Community Safety Fun Day and Youth Council‘

The Youth Assemble are 4 YPs from Eastfield who, following an attack on the local Police Station, wanted to do something to improve the area’s reputation by making it a safe place to live. They came up with organising a Safer Community Fun day where the community could enjoy themselves but also have access to different services and information relative to all age groups. They arranged the attendance of many attractions including a Mobile Police Station for property marking, Fire and Rescue, RNLI for advice on water safety (Eastfield is by the Sea) and School Nurses who gave healthy living advice. Businesses donated prizes and the team made posters advertising the day. The day was a huge success.
The team are now part of a newly formed Youth Council and have recruited another 6 members who before Christmas organised fund raising events. 100 people attended with 92 children visiting Santa. They spent the £140 raised on gifts for sick children in hospital. This was all done on the initiative of the Youth Council, the family support worker describing the team as “role models portraying the community in a positive light, changing stereotypical opinions of some people whilst gaining valuable experience”. In short creating safer communities.

Category B – Joint 1st place

Warwickshire
– with project ‘EXPEDITION @ SAFE‘
During March to August 2015 ten members of the SAFE Youth Club aged between 13 and 16 years took part in this project. The Youth club members had been visiting a newly-opened community woodland ‘Foundry Wood’ when two 14 year old members started a fire without realising the potential consequences and burnt down the toilet block. Following restorative justice intervention the two young people agreed to clear the site and contributed ideas about the design of the replacement block. Other members of the club decided to help with site clearance and spent their Easter holiday on the task. Following this all the YPs decided to help with the replacement building, learning to follow plans and drawings, measure and saw timber and also to drill holes.
They constructed the handrails, floor, walls and steps before the composting toilet was installed. The construction of this community asset was featured in the local media and one of the YP went on to spend his work experience with a carpenter.
The benefits of the project have been numerous but mainly it has taught the YPs the danger of setting fires and to give something back to the community.

Category B – Joint
1st place

Bedfordshire – Bedfordshire Volunteer Police Cadets with project ‘Operation
Vision’
This operation has been run on many occasions and it involves the cadets proactively interacting with residents going from door to door, answering questions and giving crime prevention advice, assisting with bike marking and number plate security. With the assistance of all the Cadets nominated Operation Vision has helped to identify those who are vulnerable in the community and those that Bedfordshire police need to engage with more frequently.
This has all been achieved in addition to the training periods they have to attend and volunteering outside of being a cadet. Two of the nominees Katrice and Daniel have been the leaders of the cadets during the Operation Vision events- Katrice as Deputy Head Cadet and Daniel as a Cadet Instructor, which he carried out as a volunteer in addition to his paid role as a
PCSO.

Category B – 3rd place

Powys – with project ‘Illegalise Legal’ighs’
Following two near-death incidents involving pupils at Crickhowell High School from taking legal high substances, pupils started to ask what they could do about “”illegalising” these substances in the minds fellow pupils. Working with the Police Neighbourhood team the twelve 6th formers trained to become Ambassadors within the school
making themselves available for peer-to-peer advice sessions and signposting to other support if needed. They are creating a school web page for other students to explore the issues, using the information they have obtained during their training which has involved speaking to ex and recovering drug users.
Although this project is still work in progress there is the potential to take the mentoring into the community to other vulnerable YPs. Crickhowell is an affluent rural area where the crime rate is low and the two incidents referred to above rocked the community.

Category
A – Joint 1st place

Warwickshire ‘We are Youth‘
21 students in Kenilworth aged
13-18 years who became aware of the dangers of ‘sexting’ when a fellow student was a victim and had to leave their school. They decided to make a DVD warning of the dangers of sending inappropriate personal images on social media. The DVD is used to raise awareness with parents and young people.

Category
A – Joint 1st place

West Yorkshire ‘Lets U.N.I.T.E 2014‘
A group of Muslim young people at the ‘Kumon Y all’ youth club , Dewsbury, wished to put a stop to the racism and violent clashes between their community Savile Town and the neighbouring community of Thornhill. They spent 2,000 hours planning a football fun day between both communities, which was very successful as 40 teams took part on the day and £4,600 was raised for Macmillan Cancer. This is to be an annual event.

Category
A – 2nd place

Kent ‘Safe’
6th formers from a school council in Gravesham recognised that mental health issues amongst young people were the cause of much anti-social behaviour and crime. They formed a mentoring group in the school which they then went on to deliver through a community project called
S.A.F.E.

Category
A – 3rd place

E Sussex ‘Responding Plus‘
Whilst attending the Response Academy these young people came up with the idea and designed 6 radio programmes focused staying safe from a young person’s perspective. Much of the information was drawn from their own experience. So successful were the programmes the radio station expanded them to 15.

Category
B – 1st place

Merseyside ‘Emotions‘
63 young people attended the ‘Emotions’ project where they devised, scripted, choreographed and acted in a play show casing the dangers of bullying, sexting, gun and knife crime, loneliness and alcoholism. They have delivered the play to over 2,300 young people.

Category
B – 2nd place

Notts ‘Dragons Den‘
Year 10 pupils at 6 secondary school competed to produce and deliver the best awareness raising campaign to promote healthy lifestyle, challenge the social acceptability of alcohol and create safer communities. The campaigns were presented to a Dragons Den style panel and the winner rolled out across all local schools and nationally via the Community Alcohol Partnerships. Over 1,200 students have received the campaign.

Category
B – 3rd place

Cumbria ‘Something for the Summer‘
A group of young people used the police statistics to bid for funding and working with the Mayor, Town Council, local organisations and charities planned a ‘ Something for Summer’ in their community which has little facilities for young people resulting in a peak in anti social behaviour during the summer months. They advertised and gave presentations on the events through out schools, colleges, youth clubs and the media. This resulted in a significant drop in crime and antisocial behaviour, it will be an annual event.

Special
Award

Metropolitan Voluntary Police Cadets
The team coordinated over 500 cadets on key dates in crime prevention activities focused on other young people. They provided property marking, crime prevention surgeries, advise on internet safety and safe guarding personal property. The operations were carried out in vulnerable communities by the cadets which had a huge impact on community confidence and community safety.

Category
A – 1st place

North Yorkshire ‘Ticket to Ride’

Idea by year 11 pupil Ellie who witnessed some pupils’ bad behaviour on a bus ride home from school. After they got off she heard the other passengers make detrimental comments about her school and pupils. Realising they thought all the pupils were the same she stood at the front of the bus and told the passengers that they were not all like it and invited them to the schools open day. Not content with this she spoke to her headmistress and it was agreed that she could make a film to educate pupils. 7 young people made the film – all aspects story board, filming, acting etc – including the ‘bad’ boys from the incident, the bus company who unbeknown to the school were at the point of taking bus passes from pupils also agreed to provide a driver and bus for the filming.
The film was shown to pupils, bus drivers’, bus passes were changed to photo ID cards, it was also played to all head teachers in the York area and to pupils from other schools. Importantly the bus company continues to take pupils from the school and the schools reputation has improved.

Category
A – 2nd place

Metropolitan Volunteer Police Cadets Feltham/ Hounslow

Joseph a cadet – when 13 was robbed of his mobile phone, beaten up and thrown into a river and left by his attackers. As a result of this experience he joined the cadets to get involved in the fight against crime. The cadet leader found out that Joseph on his own initiative was visiting neighbours in his community urging them to get involved in a neighbourhood watch scheme he was setting up. He was also collecting email addresses to sign people up for neighbourhood link –an email newsletter sent out by police giving crime prevention advice. He is now the coordinator of the scheme and his mother deputy coordinator. Joseph with the support of the cadet leaders has been inspiring other cadets to do the same in their neighbourhoods.

Category
A – 3rd place

Bedfordshire – Princes Trust YMCA – ‘Team Luton Knife Crime Project’.

These young people were attended the 12 week Princes Trust Programme and they decided to tackle Knife crime in Luton as their community project during the course. One of their members had been profoundly affected y the death of a friend who had been stabbed. They raised money, researched the topic interviewing a bereaved parent and a knife crime offender and worked with a media company to make a film to educate others on the consequences of just one attack. The product is of good quality, distributed to school, youth teams, youth offending teams and is being used by the Luton Youth Offending Team and Victim Support. The team used much of their spare time – working around the Team programme from early in the morning, late at night and weekends to produce this film.
The also organised the premier at a local cinema.

Category
B – 1st place

Mid Glamorgan –The 3Gs Music and Arts Group

These young people manage, raise funds for, and reach out to disadvantaged young people, successfully encouraging them to engage in the activities they put on rather than resort to or continue in a life of crime. They have had a direct impact on the reduction of crime and anti social behaviour in their valley. They also raised £150k to purchase equipment for their group. In 2010 they received the Queens Award for Voluntary Service for engaging with hard to reach young people. The impact on the quality of life in the valley of Merthyr Tydfil through these young people providing other young people with activities in which to engage is huge.

Category
B – 2nd place

Metropolitan Volunteer Cadets ‘Test Purchase Project’

The Cadets provide intelligence relating to the illegal sale of age related goods such as: fireworks, alcohol, tattoos, solvents, knives etc. They then plan and manage their own monthly test purchase operations working with Trading Standards Officers to obtain and record evidence that has had a direct impact on reducing crime and danger to the public. They also designed an awareness raising campaign for shopkeepers not just about the potential for prosecutions but also but about public health and youth violence.

Category
B – 3rd place

Nottingham ‘Man Enough’

Beats Brains is a sex and healthy relationships project and a group of young people produced a film and soundtrack ‘Man Enough’ which questions if they are man enough to respect girls and young women. The lyrics were written entirely by the young people to deter young men from becoming perpetrators of domestic violence. The song is used by these young men as peer educators to provoke discussion on relationships and domestic violence. Outcomes – A notable shift in young men talking about young women differently and questioning the power and influence of certain music. Project workers have witnessed a move in attitudes and perceptions which is seen in the music which those in the project are listening to and producing.

All photographs:
AlexFarquhar Photography.
www.alexfphotos.co.uk