The third webinar in the series BBB Youth Welfare webinars that we run in partnership with De Montfort university and LLR safeguarding took place on the 12th November 2020.
Chaired by Ross Little, senior lecturer in criminology at De Montfort University and Deputy Chair of The National Association for Youth Justice, we were joined by:
Clifton Muir, Violence Intervention Project (VIP) Worker, Turning Point Leicester
Grace Strong, Strategic Director of the Violence Reduction Network
Hannah Keys (Neighbourhood and Environmental Services) and Daxa Pancholi (Head of Community Safety and Protection), Leicester City Council
Setting the scene Grace Strong was clear.
Knife crime does not just happen, people do not just become violent, the more we understand the causes of violent crime at the different stages of a person’s life the better able we are to prevent.
During a lively Q&A there was consensus that a wide range of interlocking complex issues often combined to create the conditions that led to people choosing to commit violent crime . There was strong support for the need for local rooted youth services.
local youth workers with rooted community knowledge are able to build relationships with disaffected youth and to provide them with alternative ways of expressing their anger and frustrations with their life situation. Cuts has meant many of these services no longer available and these young people are walking the streets with little or no support.
In the closing comments people agreed that there was a need for better data so we could be evidence led.
Everybody here seems to agree on the prevent strategy and the need for bottom up community responses, but we do need to be better at capturing the data so we can show the evidence as to why this is the best approach.
The fourth seminar in this series will takes place Tuesday, 8 December 2020 from 1:00 PM to 2:00 PM and deals with youth homelessness you can register here
Read our Rapid appraisal on knife crime https://www.leicestershirecares.co.uk/about-charity/news-events/our-rapid-appraisal-knife-crime-leicester-and-leicestershire/
For more information on the approach of the VRN click here https://www.violencereductionnetwork.co.uk/our-approach